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MICHAEL  REESE 


THE  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

UNDER 

THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT 
1670-1719 


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THE  HISTORY 


.SOUTH    CAROLINA 


UNDER  THE 


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PEOPRIETAEY  GOVEENMENT 

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EDWARD   McCRADY 

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A  MEMBER  OF  THE   BAR  OF  CHARLESTON,   S.C.,   AND   VICE-PRESIDENT 
OF  THE   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


^  OF   THH        ^J 

UNIVERSITY 


THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON :  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

1897 

All  rightft  reserved 


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Copyright,  1897, 
By  the  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


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J  8  Cushini?  &  Co.  -  Berwick  &  Smith 
{Norwood  Mass  U.S.A. 


The  following  study  of  the  history  of  South  Carolina 
has  been  made  amidst  the  engagements  of  a  busy  profes- 
sional life,  in  hours  snatched  from  that  jealous  mistress  — 
the  law.  It  has  been  a  labor  of  love,  and  has  been  under- 
taken and  carried  on  with  the  single  purpose  of  learning 
and  telling  the  story  of  the  State  of  which  the  author  is 
proud  to  be  a  son  and  a  citizen.  In  the  course  of  his 
study,  he  has  found,  as  he  conceives,  occasional  errors  in 
the  works  of  those  who  have  preceded  him  ;  and  these 
he  has  pointed  out.  He  cannot  hope  himself  to  have 
escaped  like  mistakes  —  though  he  has  striven  to  do  so. 
It  will  be  the  duty  of  those  who  come  after  to  correct 
where  he  has  gone  astray.  He  only  asks  that  this  shall 
be  done  in  the  spirit  of  fairness  he  has  endeavored  to 
observe.  To  his  readers  in  general  he  would  recall  the 
lines  of  the  poet :  — 

Whoever  thinks  a  faultless  piece  to  see, 
Thinks  what  ne'er  was,  nor  is,  nor  e'er  shall  be. 

In  ev'ry  work  regard  the  writer's  end, 
Since  none  can  compass  more  than  they  intend ; 

And  if  the  means  be  just,  the  conduct  true, 
Applause,  in  spite  of  trivial  fp-ults,  is  due. 

Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism,  250-260. 


83590 


AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED   AND   QUOTED 

American  Commonwealth  Series.     Horace  E.  Scudder. 

Connecticut:   A  Study  of    a  Commonwealth  Democracy.     By  Pro- 
fessor Alexander  Johnson. 

Maryland :  The  History  of  a  Palatinate.    By  William  Hand  Browne. 

Virginia :    A  History  of  the  People.     By  John  Esten  Cooke. 
Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Church.     London  1856. 
A  New  Voyage  to  Carolina.     John  Lawson,  1709. 
Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States  (Edition  1882). 
Baptist  Church,  Charleston,  History  of. 
Barbadoes,  Poyer'^History  of. 
Barbadoes,  Ligon's  History  of. 
Bingham's  Antiquities. 

Bohun,  Edmund,  Memoir  and  Autobiography  of. 
British  Empire  in  America.     Oldmixon.    2  ed.  MDCCXLI. 
Bruce's  Economic  History  of  Virginia.     1896. 
Burke's  Peerage. 

Burnet's  History  of  His  Own  Times.     London  1724. 
Burn's  Ecclesiastical  Law. 

Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury,  London,  1889). 
Calhoun's  Works. 
Carroll,  B.  R.     Historical  Collections.     2  volumes. 

A  Brief  Description  of  the  Province  of  Carolina,  etc.,  1664. 

An  Account  of  the  Province  of  Carolina,  etc.     Samuel  Wilson,  1682. 

Carolina  ;  or,  A  Description  of  the  Present  State  of  that  Country.    By 
T A (Thomas  Ash),  1682. 

A  New  Description  of  that  Fertile  and  Pleasant  Province  of  Carolina, 
etc.     John  Archdale,  1707. 

A  Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  People  of  South  Carolina  in 
the  year  1719.     (1726.) 

A  Description  of  South  Carolina,  etc.     Governor  Glen. 

Political  Annals  Qf  the  Province  of  Carolina,  etc.     George  Chalmers. 

Statements  made  in  the  introduction  to  the  Report  of  General  Ogle- 
thorpe's Expedition  to  St.  Augustine.     1741. 

An  Account  of  the  Missionaries  sent  to  South  Carolina. 

An  Account  of  the  Breaking-out  of  the  Yamassee  War.    Extracted 
from  the  Boston  News  of  the  13th  of  June,  1715. 

An  Account  of  What  the  Army  did  under  the  Command  of  Colonel 
Moore,  etc.     Boston  News,  May  1,  1704. 


Vlil  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED  AND  QUOTED 

Charlemagne  Tower,  Collection  of  Colonial  Laws,  privately  printed  for 

The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  1890. 
Charters  and  Constitutions,  The  United  States.     Poore,  1878. 
Clarendon's  History  of  the  Rebellion.     2  volumes.     Oxford.     MDCCXL. 
Collections  of  the  Historical  Society  of  South  Carolina.    Volumes  I,  II, 

III,  IV. 
Collins's  Peerage. 

Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina.     Volumes  I  and  II. 
Commons  Journals  MS.,  Columbia,  S.  C. 
Coxe's  Description  of  the  English  Province  of  Carolana. 
Cyclopedia,  Eminent  and  Representative  Men  of  the  Carolinas.    Brandt 

&  Fuller,  Chicago.    Preface  to,  by  Edward  McCrady. 
Dalcho's  Church  History,  1820. 
De  Bow's  Review. 

Doyle's  English  Colonies  in  America. 
Drayton,  John,  A  View  of  South  Carolina.    1802. 
Drayton,  John,  Memoirs.     2  volumes. 
Emigrants  to  America,  1600-1700  (Hottin). 
Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

Eraser,  Charles,  Reminiscences  of  Charleston.    1854. 
Gazette,  The  South  Carolina. 

Gazette,  The  Royal  Charlestown,  South  Carolina,  1780-82. 
Genesis  of  the  United  States.    Alexander  Brown.     1891. 
Gentleman's  Magazine.    Vol.  X.     MDCCXL. 
George  II,  Memoirs  of.    Walpole. 

Golden  Islands,  An  Account  of.    By  John  Barnwell,  London,  1720. 
Green's  History  of  the  English  People. 
Greg,  Percy,  History  of  the  United  States. 
Hakluyt's  Voyages. 

Hawks,  Francis  L. ,  D.D. ,  History  of  North  Carolina.    2  volumes. 
Hewatt,  Rev.  Alexander,  D.D.,  An  Historical  Account  of  the  Rise  and 

Progress  of  the  Colonies  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  1779. 
Howe,  Rev.  George,  D.D.,  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South 

Carolina. 
Huguenots,  The.     Samuel  Smiles. 
Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies. 

The  Carolina  Pirates    and   Colonial    Commerce.     S.  C.  Hughson. 

12  series,  V,  VI,  VII. 
Government  of  the  Colony  of  South  Carolina.     Edson  L.  Whitney, 

Ph.D.,  LL.B.     13  series,  I,  II. 
Lecky's  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
Lecky's  Leaders  of  Public  Opinion  in  Ireland. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  AND  QUOTED  ix 

Legal  Works  and  Reports. 

Blackstoue's  Commentaries. 

Kent's  Commentaries. 

Jacob's  Law  Dictionary. 

Phillimore  on  International  Law. 

Brown's  Parliamentary  Cases. 

English  Common  Law  Reports.     Dwyer,  Salkeld. 

English  Equity  Reports.     Perre  Williams. 

South  Carolina  Law  and  Equity  Reports. 

State  Trials.    Volume  VI-XV. 

Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet.     Pamphlet,  1719. 

Statutes  of  the  Realm.     EngUsh. 

Statutes  of  South  Carolina. 
Liste  des  Fran5ais  et  Suisse.    Edited  by  Theodore  Gaillard  Thomas,  M.D., 

New  York,  1888. 
Locke's  Works.    2  ed.    London  MDCCXCIV. 
Macaulay's  History  of  England. 
Marion,  James's  Life  of.     1821. 
Morton,  Memoranda  relating  to  the  Family  of.     1894. 
Old  Churches,  Ministers,  and  Families  in  Virginia.     Bishop  Meade. 
Parliamentary  History.     Volume  XVI. 
Public  Records  MS. ,  Columbia,  S.  C. 
Puritan,  The,  in  England  and  America.    Douglass  Campbell,  A. M.,  LL.  B. , 

New  York,  1892. 
Ramsay,  Dr.  David,  History  of  South  Carolina.    2  volumes. 
Rivers,  Professor  William  J.,  Historical  Sketch  of  South  Carolina. 
Rivers,  Professor  William  J. ,  Chapter  Colonial  History. 
Shecut's  Medical  and  Philosophical  Essays.     1819. 
Slavery  in  the  Province  of  South  Carolina,  1670-1770.  Edward  McCrady. 

Annual  Reports  Am.  Hist.  So.,  1896. 
Smollett's  History  of  England. 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  Historical  account  of.     Hum- 
phreys.   1729. 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  Digest  Records  of.     1701-1892. 
West  Indies,  Bryan  Edwards's  History  of.     2  ed.  MDCCXCIV. 
West  Indies,  Froude's  English  in  the. 
Wheeler's  Reminiscences  of  North  Carolina. 
Year  Books,  City  of  Charleston,  during  the  administrations  of  the  Hon. 

William  A.  Courtenay,  the  Hon.  John  F.  Ficken  and  the  Hon.  I. 

Adger  Smyth. 


HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  UNDER 
THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT    . 


>»ic 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 

The  domain  of  the  United  States  of  America  was 
chiefly  settled  by  the  English  under  Royal  grants,  from 
three  principal  points,  nearly  equidistant  from  each  other: 
Jamestown  in  Virginia,  in  1607,  Plymouth  in  Massachu- 
setts, 1620,  and  Charles  Town  in  Carolina,  in  1670.  From 
these  points  have  emanated  the  differing  political  thoughts 
of  the  country,  which  have,  in.  the  main  in  parallel  lines, 
accompanied  the  tide  of  emigration  westward. ^ 

Physical  causes  marked  great  differences  in  the  devel- 
opment of  these  settlements,  and  especially  in  that  of 
Carolina  from  the  other  two.     To  these  physical  causes 

1  The  extent  of  emigration  from  South  Carolina  is  not  generally  realized. 
It  is  not  generally  known  that  she  .was  one  of  the  great  emigrant  States. 
"Yet  from  1820  to  1860,"  says  General  Francis  A,  Walker,  in  his  Intro- 
duction to  the  United  States  census  of  1880,  "  South. Carolina  was  a  bee- 
hive from  which  swarms  were  continually  going  forth  to  populate  the 
newer  cotton-growing  states  of  the  Southwest."  The  whole  population 
of  the  State  in^l860  amounted  to  470,257.  There  were  then  living  in 
other  States  193,389  white  persons  born  in  South  Carolina.  That  is,  two- 
fifths  of  the  whole  native-born  population  had  emigrated  and  were  then 
living  in  other  States,  and  these  almost  entirely  in  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  Texas.  In  1870  out  of  678,706 
native-born  South  Carolinians  more  than  one-third,  about  246,066,  were 
living  in  other  States. 

B  1 


2  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

others  were  added  which  tended  to  form  the  society  of 
Carolina  upon  a  basis  differing  from  that  of  the  other 
colonies;  and  to  produce  a  people  to  a  considerable  degree 
peculiar  in  their  characteristics. 

The  colony  of  Virginia  was  little  further  from  that  of 
Massachusetts  than  from  that  of  Carolina;  but  the  terri- 
tory between  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  already  to  some 
extent  peopled  hy  the  Dutch,  was  soon  filled  up  by  the 
set^iement'^:  of  the  provinces  of  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  ]Sl  ew  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland,  forming  a  chain  of  colonies  linked  together  by 
neighboring  influences  and  conveniences,  and  thus  beget-, 
ting  something  of  a  common  American  colonial  sentiment. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  situation  of  the  colony  of  Caro- 
lina to  produce  a  similar  effect.  The  colonists  at  Charles 
Town,  more  than  three  hundred  miles  south  of  the  James 
River,  were  practically  much  further  than  that  distance 
from  Virginia,  the  nearest  established  colony.  Hatteras 
projecting  into  the  ocean  rendered  communication  between 
the  first  settlers  in  Carolina  and  the  other  colonies,  in 
their  small  vessels,  more  dangerous  almost  than  that  with 
England.  The  only  travel  by  land  between  Carolina  and 
Virginia  was  by  Indian  trail.  There  were  no  roads  nor 
means  of  transportation.  Lederer,  the  learned  German 
explorer,  whom  Governor  Berkeley  sent  out  from  Virginia 
in  1669  to  explore  the  country,  after  travelling  for 
months  with  Indian  guides  certainly  did  not  reach 
beyond  the  Santee  —  if,  indeed,  he  entered  at  all  the 
territory  of  the  present  State  of  South  Carolina.^  A 
postoffice  was  established  in  Charles  Town  as  early  as 
1698,  but  this  was  for  European  and  West  Indian  cor- 
respondence. Peter  Timothy,  postmaster,  gives  notice 
in  the  Gazette^  August  19,  1756,  nearly  sixty  years  after, 
•^  History  of  No.  Ca.  (Hawks),  52. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT       3 

that  the  first  mail  from  Wilmington  (North  Carolina)  is 
hourly  expected  to  arrive  here,  and  will  set  out  on  his 
return  two  days  after  his  arrival.  This  was  to  be  con- 
tinued every  fortnight,  and  those  who  wished  to  have 
their  letters  forwarded  by  this  conveyance  were  requested 
to  send  them  in  time.  The  letter  of  intelligence  of  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  which  was  transmitted  from  com- 
mittee to  committee,  dated  24th  of  April,  1775,  and 
starting  from  Wallingsford,  Connecticut,  one  hundred 
miles  from  New  York,  reached  Charleston  in  seventeen 
days.  It  was  sixteen  coming  from  New  York,  fifteen 
from  Princeton,  ten  from  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  and 
three  days  from  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.^  This  was 
by  express,  and  was  considered  remarkable  for  its  dis- 
patch; and  so  it  was,  for  the  express  which  brought  the 
news  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  from  Philadel- 
phia did  not  reach  Charleston  until  the  2d  of  August, 
twenty-nine  days  after  it  had  been  adopted  in  Congress. 
It  reached  Paris  but  a  few  days  later  than  it  reached 
Charleston,  i.e.  some  time  in  the  first  half  of  the  month 
of  August.  The  South  Carolina  and  American  General 
Gazette^  of  the  11th  of  September,  1776,  complains  that 
though  not  long  sinca  an  express  had  come  in  sixteen 
days  from  Philadelphia,  the  Northern  Post  generally  took 
about  double  that  time.  Ships  frequently  arrived  from  \ 
England,  bringing  European  news  within  the  month. 
Thus  separated  from  the  other  colonies  by  distance,  and 
still  more  so  by  the  character  of  the  intervening  country. 
South  Carolina  was  left  to  struggle  by  herself  for 
existence. 

The  colony  was  for  a  long  time,  indeed  until  1733,  the  \ 
distant  outpost  between  the  other  English  colonies  and  the  i 
Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine,  and  the  French  on  the  Mis- 
1  Drayton's  Memoirs,  vol.  I,  248. 


4  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

sissippi.  It  was  planted  to  assert  the  dominion  of  Great 
Britain  against  that  of  Spain  in  disputed  territory.  At 
each  end  of  the  long  attenuated  line  of  the  British  settle- 
ments on  the  American  coast  there  was  a  hostile  post. 
At  the  North  the  French  in  Canada  were  jealously 
watching  the  growth  of  the  English  colonial  system, 
while  at  the  South  the  Spaniards  in  Florida,  regarding 
/the  planting  of  the  colony  in  Carolina  as  an  invasion  of 
I  their  own  territory,  were  on  the  alert  to  attack  it  upon 
every  favorable  opportunity,  regardless  whether  peace  or 
war  formally  subsisted  at  the  time  between  Spain  and 
England.  The  French  were  a  menace  to  New  England, 
but  the  colonists  there  could  be  reached  only  by  an  over- 
land invasion,  which,  by  the  climate,  was  practically 
restricted  to  one  season  of  the  year,  and  which,  from  the 
difficulty  of  transportation,  was  much  less  serious.  The 
Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine,  on  the  other  hand,  were  the 
constant  active  and  malignant  enemies  of  the  Carolinians, 
who  were  at  such  a  distance  from  the  other  British 
colonies  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  their  support. 
Then,  too,  Charles  Town  was  a  little  further  from  St. 
■  Augustine  than  a  third  of  the  distance  from  Jamestown,  in 
Virginia,  the  nearest  settlement,  with  the  exception  of  the 
feeble  colony  at  Albemarle,  from  which  no  support  could 
be  extended.  The  Carolinians  were  open  to  attack  by 
sea,  and  to  this  danger  they  were  open  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year. 

This  separation  of  South  Carolina  from  the  other  colo- 
nies on  the  Continent  was  recognized  and  acted  upon  in 
the  treatment  of  the  colony  by  the  Government  in  Eng- 
land. It  was  regarded  as  more  nearly  allied  to  the  island 
colonies  than  to  those  on  the  main.  Thus  when  Edward 
Randolph,  the  collector  of  the  King's  customs,  proposed 
in  1694  a  rearrangement  and  consolidation  of  the  Colonial 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT       5 

Governments  for  the  better  control  and  collection  of  the 
King's  revenue,  he  recommended  that  the  Proprietary 
Governments  should  be  set  aside,  and  that  South  Carolina 
and  all  the  Baliama  Islands  should  be  put  -under  one 
government,  under  li^er  Majesty's  immediate  authority; 
that  North  Carolina  should  be  annexed  to  Virginia, 
Delaware  to  Maryland,  West  Jersey  to  Pennsylvania, 
East  Jersey  and  Connecticut  to  New  York,  and  Rhode 
Island  to  Massachusetts,  thus  reducing  the  number  of  the 
colonies  to  but  six.^ 

This  treatment  at  home,  and  constant  exposure  to 
attack  from  St.  Augustine  by  sea  and  from  Indians  on 
land,  instigated  alike  by  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  and  the 
French  from  Mobile,  had  great  influence  upon  the  devel- 
opment of  the  Carolina  colony,  alike  upon  the  organiza- 
tion of  its  government  and  its  social  structure. 

In  the  first  place  it  forced  the  Caroliiiians  to  depend 
upon  themselves  for  their  defence,  and  to  that  extent 
produced,  a  sentiment  of  independence  in  regard  to  the 
other  colonies. 

In  the  next  it  began  the  centripetal  character  of  the 
development  of  the  colony,  which  as  a  province  and  State 
South  Carolina  so  long  retained,  and  which  indeed  she 
has  not  even  yet  entirely  lost.  The  colonial  development 
of  Virginia  was  by  rural  communities.  There  was  no 
city  or  town  life.  "  The  only  place  in  Virginia  previous 
to  1700  to  which  the- name  of  a  town  could  with  any 
degree  of  appropriateness  be  applied  was  Jamestown,  and 
even  this  settlement  never  rose  to  a  dignity  superior  to 
that  of  a  village. "2  Williamsburg  was  never  more  than 
a  college  town  and  seat  of  government.  In  New  Eng- 
land the  colonists  separated  very  early  into  different  com- 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  441,  442. 

2  Bruce's  Economic  History  of  Virginia^  vol.  II,  526. 


6  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

munities.  In  Connecticut,  says  Professor  Johnston,  town 
and  church  were  but  two  sides  of  the  same  thing,  and  as 
there  would  be  differences  of  opinion  in  church  as  well  as 
in  town  matters,  every  religious  dispute  gave  rise  to  a 
new  town  until  the  faintest  lines  of  theological  divergence 
were  satisfied.^  Each  of  these  new  towns  with  its  own 
peculiar  schism  became  a  new  centre,  from  and  around 
which  population  spread.  But  in  South  Carolina  the 
constant  and  immediate  danger  of  invasion  by  Spaniards 
and  Indians,  as  exemplified  in  the  utter  destruction  of  the 
attempted  settlement  by  Lord  Cardross  at  Port  Royal  in 
1686,  restricted  the  colonists  for  many  years  to  distances 
within  reach  of  the  fortifications  of  Charles  Town,  and 
formed  within  and  around  it  a  compact  body  of  society, 
with  outlying  plantations,  from  which  in  case  of  alarm 
the  colonists  withdrew  to  the  town,  as  in  case  of  the 
rising  of  the  Yamassees  in  1715.  When  this  danger  was 
overcome  by  the  increase  of  population,  and  the  founding 
and  building  up  of  the  colony  of  Georgia,  the  unhealth- 
fulness  of  the  country  along  the  rivers,  increased,  if  not 
caused,  by  the  disturbance  of  the  soil  and  the  stag- 
nant water  of  rice  planting  in  the  inland  swamps,  com- 
pelled the  planters  to  reside  in  the  summer  in  the  town 
or  in  some  high  resinous  pine-land  settlement  away  from 
malaria. 2  Thus,  until  the  immigration  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  and  Virginians  into  the  upper  country  by  the  way 
of  the  mountains,  from  1750  to  1760,  the  development  of 

1  Connecticut^  Am.  Com.,  Series  6. 

2  A  recent  writer,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  presently  to  speak, 
has  fallen  into  the  curious  error  of  stating  that  it  was  the  winter  months 
during  which  the  wealthy  planters,  owing  to  the  unhealthfulness  of  the 
surrounding  country,  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  Charlestown, 
missing  at  once  the  fact  and  the  cause.  Government  of  the  Colony  of 
South  Carolina  (Whitney).  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  13  series, 
1-11. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT       7 

the  colony  was  not,  as  in  New  England,  from  many  and 
distinct  settlements  or  towns,  but  from  one  point,  the 
circle  enlarging  as  the  population  increased,  but  always 
with  reference  to  the  one  central  point,  —  the  town, — 
Charles  T^wn. 

The  development  of  Carolina  thus  presented  the  anom- 
aly that,  though  it  W3,s  a  planters'  colony,  it  was  devel- 
oped by  Avay  of  city  or  town  life.  Boston  was  the  largest 
town  in  Massa,chusetts,  but  there  Avas  organization  and 
administration  outside  of  it.  For  many  years  Charles 
Town  practically  embodied  all  of  Carolina.  Beaufort, 
the  next  town  to  be  settled,^^was  not  attempted  for  more 
than  forty  years  after  the;  planting  of  the  colony,  and 
Georgetown  not  until  some  years  later.  Until  1716  elec- 
tions were  generally  held  in  the  town  for  all  the  province, 
and  representation  outside  of  it — that  by  parishes — was 
not  practically  established  until  the  overthrow  of  the  Pro- 
prietary Government  in  1719.  No  court  of  general  juris- 
diction was  held  outside  of  it  until  1773,  over  a  hundred 
years  after  the  establishment  of  the  colony.  There  was 
only  one  government  for  the  province,  the  town,  and  the 
church.  The  same  General  Assembly  passed  laws  for 
the  province,  laid  out  streets,  regulated  the  police  for_the 
town,  and  governed  the  church.  Even  after  the  colony 
had  grown,  and  the  upper  country  had  been  peopled  from 
another  source,  every  magistrate  in  the  province  was  ap- 
pointed in  Charles  Town  until  the  Revolution  of  1776, 
and  after  that,  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
1790  and  the  change  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Colum- 
bia, at  that  place.  There  was  thus  from  the  inception  of 
the  colony  in  1665  to  the  overthrow  of  the  State  in  1865, 
for  two  hundred  "years,  only  one  government  in  South 
Carolina.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  a  county  or  town- 
ship government  of  any  kind. 


8  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

From  the  isolation  of  the  colony  during  the  period  of 
its  formation,  and  for  long  after,  it  remained  a  dependency 
of  England,  as  well  in  interest  as  in  fact,  rather  than  de- 
pendent upon  the  support  and  sympathy  of  its  distant 
sister  colonies  ;  and  with  the  love  of  the  old  country,  with 
which  communication  was  constant  and  close,  everything 
tended  to  limit  whatever  patriotism  there  might  be  to  the 
gradually  extending  area  of  the  province,  while  the  con- 
stant recurrence  in  thought  and  act  to  the  central  point, 
the  town,  developed  and  intensified  the  Carolina  conception 
of  the  entity  of  the  State  and  of  its  absolute  sovereignty. 

There  were  other  potent  causes  tending  to  differentiate 
the  colonists  of  Carolina  from  those  of  the  other  provinces. 
All  the  other  colonies,  except  New  York,  were  peopled 
by  emigrants  in  the  main  directly  from  the  British  Isl- 
ands ;  but  beside  the  large  Huguenot  element  in  her  popu- 
lation, Carolina  was  settled  in  a  great  measure  from 
Barbadoes  and  the  other  British  West  Indies.  Naviga- 
tion to  the  southern  parts  of  America  was  at  first  en- 
tirely by  the  way  of  the  West  Indies,  and  though  Ribault 
in  1562  had  ventured  directly  across  the  Atlantic,  the 
course  of  communication  between  Carolina  and  England 
continued  for  many  years  to  be  principally  by  way  of 
Barbadoes.  The  first  colony  sent  by  the  Proprietors  sailed 
for  Barbadoes,  consigned  to  agents  there,  from  which  it 
was  dispatched  to  Carolina  by  way  of  Bermuda.  While 
in  the  formation  of  the  other  colonies  the  whole  structure 
of  society  was  of  necessity  built  up  from  the  very  founda- 
tion in  accordance  with  the  peculiar  environment  of  each, 
the  social  and  political  system  of  Carolina  was  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  transferred  from  that  island  in  a  state  of 
advanced  development.  The  settlers  from  Barbadoes 
under  Yeamans  brought  with  them  a  colonial  system 
which,  though  comparatively  new  and  not  fully  developed. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT       9 

was  little  later  than  that  of  Virginia  and  nearly  contem- 
poraneous with  that  of  Massachusetts ;  and  the  basis  of 
this  social  system  was  the  institution  of  African  slavery. 
The  attempt  to  engraft  upon  this  social  order  a  legally 
recognized  aristocracy  of  Landgraves  and  Caciques,  pro- 
posed by  Locke  and  adopted  by  the  Proprietors  under  the 
influence  of  Shaftesbury,  and  the  struggle  caused  by  its 
attempted  enforcement,  helped  much  in  the  formation  of 
the  peculiar  characteristics  Avhich  were  to  mark  the  politi- 
cal and  social  organization  of  South  Carolina,  giving  to 
it  on  the  one  hand  a  strongly  aristocratic  tone  with  a 
party  for  sustaining  prerogative,  while  on  the  other  it 
developed  in  the  very  outset  a  party  of  the  people  who 
based  their  rights  upon  the  dogma  of  a  strict  construction 
of  chartered  or  constitutional  provisions, 
/^hen  again,  the  est^-blishment  of  the  colony  in  prox- 
imity to  the  Spaniards,  and  the  hostility  of  the  Indians 
under  French  and  Spanish  influence,  necessitated  from 
the  very  beginning  a  military  organization  of  the  people ; 
and  this  was  also  rendered  the  more  necessary  by  the 
increasing  number  of  negro  slaves,  —  savages,  —  which 
became  a  source  of  weakness  in  times  of  danger,  and, 
until  the  institution  in  the  course  of  years  became 
thoroughly  settled,  a  constant  source  of  care  and  anxiety. 
The  colonists,  as  we  shall  see,  were  desirous  of  checking 
the  importation  of  negroes,  not  from  any  moral  objections 
to  slave  holding,  but  from  their  apprehension  of  the 
danger  of  being  outnumbered  by  the  negroes,  and  of 
their  rising  in  case  the  whites  should  be  assailed  by  the 
Indians,  or  through  the  instigation  of  the  Spaniards  or 
French,  as  did  happen  in  1740.  This  danger  gave  rise 
to  a  military  police  organization  of  the  whole  people, 
which  continued  from  170-1:  until  the  emancipation  of  the 
negroes  as  the  result  of  the  war  of  secession. 


10  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

J  Under  this  system  the  province,  and  afterwards  the 
i  State,  was  divided  into  military  districts,  the  chief  of 
each  of  which  was  a  colonel,  and  these  again  into  other 
districts,  or  beats,  under  captains.  The  captain  was  the 
police  officer  of  his  ^  district,  or  beat,  and  was  charged 
with  the  patrol  and  police  of  his  beat  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  regulations  in  regard  to  the  slaves.  The 
regimental  and  company  military  precincts  were  thus 
coincident  with  the  police  districts,  and  the  two  formed 
one  system.  The  captain  of  a  beat  or  militia  company 
thus  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  order  in  his  district 
was  a  man  in  authority  for  the  time,  and  as  the  duties 
were  onerous  the  office  was  not  usually  held  longer  than 
the  term  which  exempted  one  from  further  service.  So 
each  young  man  of  position  in  a  neighborhood  took  his 
turn  of  duty,  and  thus  acquiring  the  title  of  captain  re- 
tained it  unless  he  became  colonel.  There  were  usually, 
therefore,  a  considerable  number  of  men  in  each  commun- 
ity having  the  title  of  "  captain "  or  "  colonel,"  and  the 
designation  implying  a  person  of  some  local  consequence 
was  sought,  and  sometimes  assumed  without  actual  ser- 
vice. This  system  gave  a  military  organization  to  the 
people,  which  was  much  more  effective  and  exacting  than 
ordinary  militia  enrolment  and  muster.  So  imbued  was 
the  system  of  government  brought  from  Barbadoes  with 
a  military  spirit  that  the  high  sheriff  of  the  province  re- 
tained the  military  title  of  "  provost-marshal "  for  a  hun- 
dred years  —  indeed,  until  the  American  Revolution.  To 
this  source  may  be  traced  the  prevalence  of  military  titles 
in  the  South,  as  that  of  "  judge  "  or  "  squire "  in  other 
communities,  indicating  persons  of  local  consequence. 

Another  principle  to  which  the  people  of  South  Caro- 
lina have  been  as  devoted,  and  have  clung  with  equal 
consistency  as  to  that  of   the  autonomy  of  the  State,  is 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      11 

that  of  the  inviolability  of  the  family  relation.  Nowhere 
has  the  family  bond  —  the  foundation  and  germ  of  all 
society  and  government  —  been  more  sacredly  guarded 
and  effectually  preserved.  It  has  been  a  part  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  State  —  unwritten,  it  is  true,  until 
1895  —  but  nevertheless  fully  recognized  and  enforced  — 
that  divorce  should  never  be  allowed.  There  never  has 
been  a  divorce  in  South  Carolina  —  province,  colony,  or 
'State  —  except  during  the  Reconstruction  period  after 
the  war  between  the  States,  under  the  government  of 
strangers,  adventurers,  and  negroes,  upheld  by  Federal 
bayonets.  There  is  but  one  case  of  divorce  reported  in 
her  law  books,  and  that  was  during  that  infamous  rule. 
The  legislature  of  the  State  has  persistently  refused 
either  itself  to  grant  divorces  or  to  authorize  its  courts 
to  do  so.  In  conferring  powers  and  jurisdiction  upon  its 
courts  those  of  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals  were  purposely 
excluded.  "  Whether  wisely  or  unwisely,"  said  Chan- 
cellor Dunkin  in  a  case  in  which  an  effort  was  made  to 
have  the  court  declare  marriage  void,  "the  legislature 
has  thought  proper  to  withhold  these  powers.  They 
have  delegated  to  no  court  the  authority  to  declare  a 
marriage  void,  and  they  have  never  themselves  exercised 
the  authority."^     The  Constitution  adopted  in  the  last 

1  See  the  cases  of  Mattison  v.  Mattison^  1  Strohart  Equity  Beports, 
S.  C,  and  Bowers  v.  Bowers,  10  Bichardson'' s  Equity  Beports,  S.  C.  The 
latter  a  case  decided  by  the  Court  of  Errors  consisting  of  all  the  law 
judges  and  chancellors  on  equity  of  the  State. 

It  is  sometimes  suggested  that  this  prohibition  of  divorce  has  been 
more  a  matter  of  form  than  of  substance,  as  persons  desiring  divorce  had 
only  to  go  into  another  State,  obtain  a  decree,  and  return.  This  has 
undoubtedly  been  attempted,  but  is  countenanced  neither  by  the  courts 
nor  by  society.  In  a  case  Duke  v.  Fulmer,  5  Bichardson' s  Equity  Beports, 
121,  involving  a  question  of  property,  it  was  attempted  to  set  up  such  a 
decree  obtained  in  another  State  ;  but  the  courts  of  the  State  would  not 
permit  it,  but  held  that  a  marriage  contract  once  entered  into  in  South 


12  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

year  (1895)  has  now  made  the  prohibition  of  divorce  a 
part  of  the  written  organic  law  of  the  State.  With  this 
inexorable  rule  in  regard  to  the  irrevocability  of  marriage 
once  entered  into  the  family  group  has  been  at  once  the 
source  of  social  and  political  strength.  The  people  of 
South  Carolina  have  recognized  and  acted  upon  the  great 
politioal  truth  that  in  a  republican  form  of  government 
above  all  others  is  the  family  the  strength  of  the  State. 
She  has  held  out  to  her  sons  that  in  establishing  their 
own  position  upon  a  political  or  social  eminence  they 
were  establishing  it  for  their  sons  as  well.  She  has  been 
ready  to  recognize  and  has  hailed  with  satisfaction  and 
reward  the  evidence  of  the  worthiness  of  the  sons  to 
succeed  the  fathers  whom  she  had  honored  Avith  public 
trusts.  And  so  it  has  been  that  generation  after  genera- 
tion finds  the  same  names  in  her  public  records.  It  is  no 
uncommon  thing  to  find  the  sons  to  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  sitting  together  in  the  councils  of  the  State. 
This  political  and  social  policy  has  given  to  the  State 
many  long  lines  of  illustrious  men. 

Most  of  the  elder  States,  says  a  recent  Englisli  writer, 
preserve  throughout  American  history  an  individuality 
quite  as  distinct  and  persistent  as  that  of  the  leading 
Greek  cities  or  great  Roman  families.  But  above  all  the 
dauntless  and  defiant  spirit,  the  fiery  temper,  the  ventur- 
ous chivalry  of  South  Carolina,  continually  remind  the 
student  of  American  history  of  her  mixed  origin, —  the 
early  interfusion  of  the  blood  of  the  English  Cavalier  with 
that  of  the  Huguenots,  who  transmitted  to  their  offspring 

Carolina  is  indissoluble,  either  by  consent  of  the  parties  or  by  the  judg- 
ment or  statute  of  any  foreign  tribunal  or  legislation.  A  divorced  person 
in  the  State  of  South  Carolina  is  as  rare  as  the  Northern  gentleman  who 
had  been  abroad,  who,  Mr.  McMaster  tells  us,  was  pointed  out  as  a  curios- 
ity as  late  as  1795.     Hist,  of  the  United  States,  vol.  I,  51. 


tJNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERI^MENT  IB 

the  traditional  gallantry  and  martial  spirit  of  their  Gascon  - 
ancestry.  Nothing  in  her  situation,  geographical,  political, 
or  industrial,  required  her  to  take  the  foremost  place  in 
sectional  conflict.  But  in  almost  every  collision  the  Pal- 
metto State  comes  to  the  front  as  the  promptest,  fiercest, 
most  determined  champion  of  State  sovereignty,  slavery, 
and  Southern  interests.^  Another  writer  observes  that  a 
Virginian  of  to-day  is  first  a  Virginian  ;  a  South  Caro- 
linian is  above  all  things  a  South  Carolinian,  but  next  they 
are  both  Southerners,  and  lastly  Americans.  Whether 
these  criticisms  are  altogether  true  or  not,  the  people  of 
South  Carolina,  admired  or  condemned,  have  been  recog- 
nized as  a  people  of  marked  and  distinctive  characteristics. 
They  have  held  and  maintained  determined  policies 
throughout  their  history,  and  have  impressed  them  upon 
other  parts  of  the  country.  For  this  the  calamities  which 
befell  in  the  war  which  they  challenged  have  been  by 
some  regarded  as  a  just  retribution.  But  whether  praised 
or  blamed  the  fact  is  certain  that  they  have  been  recog- 
nized as  in  many  respects  peculiar  in  their  character.  ^ 

This,  too,  is  more  remarkable  when,  as  every  one  famil- 
iar with  the  local  history  of  the  State  well  knows,  there 
have  been  always  marked  and  well-defined  differences  be- 
tween themselves  in  almost  every  respect  in  which  they 
appear  to  strangers  as  one  people.  It  is  all  the  more  re- 
markable, too,  since  these  differences  have  been,  so  to 
speak,  organic,  having  had  their  origin  in  the  very  settle- 
ment of  the  State,  and  have  not  been  evolved  from  differ- 
ing circumstances  among  those  who  were  once  the  same 
people. 

To  some  of  the  first  causes  of  these  marked  characteris- 

1  Hist,  of  the  United  States  (Percy  Greg),  vol,  I,  439. 

2  Preface  to  Cyclopedia  of  Eminent  Eepresentative  Men  of  the  Caro- 
linas  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  by  Edward  McCrady. 


14  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

tics  we  have  already  referred. .  These  and  others  scarcely 
less  potent  will  more  fully  appear  as  we  proceed.  We 
shall  attempt  in  the  following  work  to  trace  the  history 
and  the  development  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  so- 
cially and  politically  from  the  inception  of  the  colony  to 
the  end  of  the  American  Revolution. 

A  great  inducement  to  this  undertaking  is  the  fact 
that  there  exists  to-day  no  history  of  the  State  which 
can  be  bought  upon  the  market.  Her  history  can  now 
be  studied  only  in  rare  works  to  be  purchased  only  oc- 
casionally at  high  rates  in  old  book  stalls. 

So  much,  too,  has  recently  been  brought  to  light  from 
sources  inaccessible  to  former  historians  that  it  has  be- 
come necessary  to  reconsider  and  recast  much  that  has 
hitherto  been  received  as  authentic.  This  we  have,  per- 
haps rashly,  attempted  to  do. 

A  brief  review  of  works  in  regard  to  South  Carolina, 
now  out  of  print,  will  show,  we  think,  the  occasion  for 
some  substitute  for  them,  and  will,  we  trust,  justify  the 
attempt  we  have  made  to  supply  this  want. 

The  first  publication  in  regard  to  Carolina  was  one  in 
the  nature  of  an  advertisement  made  by  the  Proprietors 
to  induce  emigration  to  the  plantation  or  settlement  at 
Cape  Fear,  begun  on  the  29th  of  May,  1664.  It  is  en- 
titled "  A  Brief  Description  of  the  Province  of  Carolina 
on  the  Coasts  of  Florida."  It  was  printed  in  London  in 
1666.1  In  1682  there  were  two  other  such  publications  ; 
one  was  by  Samuel  Wilson,  secretary  to  the  Proprietors, 
which  was  likewise  an  advertisement  of  the  advantages  of 
the  settlement  of  Charles  Town  at  Oyster  Point.  It  is 
entitled  "An  Account  of  the  Province  of  Carolina  in 
America,  together  with  an  Abstract  of  the  Patent,  and 
several  other  Necessary  and  Useful  Particulars  to  such  as 
1  Carroll's  Collections,  vol.  II,  9. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      15 

have  Thoughts  of  Transporting  Themselves  thither. 
Published  for  their  information."  .  .  .  The  other  publi- 
cation of  the  year  1682  was  made  by  one  who  wrote  under 

the  designation  of  "  T A ,  Gen't  clerk  on  board  her 

Majesty's  ship  the  Richmond,  which  was  sent  out  in  the 
year  1680,  with  particular  instruction  to  inquire  into  the 
state  of  the  country  by  her  Majesty's  special  command, 
and  returned  this  present  year,  1682."  The  work  is  en- 
titled ''  Carolina  or  a  Description  of  the  Present  State  of 
that  Country  and  the  Natural  Excellence  thereof,"  etc. 
This  publication,  by  Thomas  Ashe,  is  more  reliable  than 
that  of  Samuel  Wilson's,  inasmuch  as  it  is  in  the  nature 
of  a  disinterested  report,  rather  than  an  advertisement  to 
induce  immigration. 

The  next  work  is  "  A  New  Description  of  that  Fertile 
and  Pleasant  Province  of  Carolina,  with  a  Brief  Account 
of  its  Discovery  and  Settling  and  the  Government  thereof 
to  the  Time,  with  several  Remarkable  Passages  of  Divine 
Providence  during  my  Time.  By  John  Archdale,  late 
Governor  of  the  Same.  London.  Printed  in  1707."  The 
description  of  Carolina  in  this  work  is  very  meagre  ;  and 
besides  the  briefest  account  of  its  affairs  since  the  settle- 
ment of  the  colony  there  is  little  more  than  a  narrative 
of  Archdale's  short  administration,  written  apparently  to 
justify  his  conduct,  and  to  show  that  he  was  not  respon- 
sible for  the  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  which  occurred 
soon  after  he  left  the  province.  His  style  is  exceedingly 
loose  and  confused,  and  the  work  is  too  egotistical  to  be 
of  any  great  value  save  for  the  presence  of  a  few  original 
papers. 

The  next  year,  1708,  there  appeared  a  work  of  con- 
siderable pretension  published  anonymously  in  two  vol- 
umes, under  the  title  of  "  The  British  Empire  in  America, 
Containing   the    History   of   the    Discovery,    Settlement, 


16  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLIN"A 

Progress  and  State  of  the  Continent  and  Islands  of  Amer- 
ica." The  first  volume  was  "an  account  of  the  country, 
soil,  climate,  product  and  trade  of  New  Foundland,  New 
England,  New  Scotland,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  Virginia,  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Hud- 
son's Bay."  The  second  volume  contained  like  accounts 
of  the  West  India  Islands.  This  work  was  by  John  Old- 
mixon,  an  author  of  numerous  poems  and  some  historical 
works.  The  latter  are  regarded  as  dull  works,  and  his 
bigoted  defence  of  Whig  principles  and  abuse  of  the 
Stuarts  are  not  calculated  to  inspire  confidence.  Macau- 
lay,  Whig  as  he  was,  declares  that  Oldmixon  unsupported 
by  evidence  is  of  no  weight  whatsoever.  He  was  one  of 
the  victims  of  Pope's  satire  in  the  Dunciad.  His  account 
of  Carolina  in  this  work  is  nevertheless  the  first  historical 
account  of  the  province.  True  to  his  character  and  poli- 
tics, however,  his  authorities  are  all  on  one  side  of  the 
religious  disputes  in  the  colony.  These  are  avowedly 
Archdale  and  Boone,  the  latter  of  whom  was  the  leader 
on  that  side  in  all  the  controversies  in  regard  to  the 
naturalization  of  the  Huguenots  and  the  Church  Acts. 
Oldmixon's  account  of  Carolina  will  be  found  republished 
in  Carroll's  collections.  We  shall  quote  from  the  original 
work  rather  than  from  Carroll's  collections,  as  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  refer  to  the  volume  on  the  West  Indies 
as  well  as  to  that  in  which  he  writes  of  Carolina.^ 

The  first  work  designed  as  a  history  of  South  Carolina 
—  a  history  of  South  Carolina  only  —  was  that  prepared 
by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Hewatt,  D.D.,  published  in  Lon- 
don in  1779  during  the  Revolution.  It  was  entitled 
"  An  Historical  Account  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
Colonies  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia."  Dr.  Hewatt, 
as  is  well  known,  was  the  pastor  of  the  Scotch,  now  the 
First  Presbyterian,  Church,  Charleston,  from  1763  to  1776, 


TINDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  17 

when  he  left  the  province  because  of  his  opposition  to  the 
pending  Revolution.  His  work  was  compiled,  it  is  said, 
with  the  assistance  of  Lieutenant  Governor  William  Bull,^ 
than  whom  no  better  informed  nor  safer  authority  could 
possibly  have  been  found;  for,  though  like  Dr.  Hewatt 
a  Royalist,  and  at  the  time  of  the  publication  a  refugee  in 
London  in  consequence.  Governor  Bull  possessed  means 
of  information  beyond  that  probably  of  any  other  person 
in  the  province,  he  having  himself  been  continuously  in 
public  office  since  1740,  the  son  of  Lieutenant  Governor 
William  Bull,  who  had  likewise  been  in  office  for  many 
years,  and  the  grandson  of  Stephen  Bull,  who  had  come 
out  with  the  first  settlers  on  the  Ashley  the  deputy  of  a 
Proprietor,  and  had  held  offices  in  succession  from  the 
formation  of  the  colony.  When,  therefore.  Dr.  Hewatt 
speaks  from  tradition  he  does  so  from  the  very  best  source 
of  information.  Access,  however,  to  the  records  of  the 
State  paper  office  in  London,  which  have  since  been  pub- 
lished, the  Shaftesbury  papers,  some  of  which  were  ob- 
tained mainly  through  the  exertions  of  the  Hon.  William 
A.  Courtenay,  and  some  of  which  he  has  presented  in  the 
City  Year  Books  of  his  administration  as  Mayor  of  Charles- 
ton, and  the  manuscript  public  records  now  in  Columbia, 
show  that  he  was  sometimes  mistaken,  and  justify  the 
regret  he  expressed  in  his  preface  "that  he  was  sometimes 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  very  confused  materials ;  that 
indeed  his  information  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  he  stood  was  often  not  so  good  as  he  could  have 
desired,  and  even  from  these  he  was  excluded  before  he 
had  finished  the  collection  necessary  to  complete  his  plan." 
Dr.  Hewatt's  work  covers  the  period  of  the  Proprietary 
Government  and  that  of  the  Royal  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act  in  1766. 

1  Preface  to  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca. 


18  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

George  Chalmers,  an  antiquarian  and  political  writer  of 
considerable  eminence,  had  visited  Maryland  in  1763 
with  a  view  to  settling  there  ;  but  espousing  the  Royalist 
cause  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  American  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, returned  to  England.  Having  become  never- 
theless much  interested  in  the  history  and  establishment 
of  the  English  colonies  in  America,  and  enjoying  free 
access  to  the  State  papers  and  plantation  records,  he  be- 
came possessed  of  much  important  information,  and  in 
1780  published  the  first  volume  of  a  projected  work,  en- 
titled "  Political  Annals  of  the  Present  United  Colonies 
from  their  Settlement  to  the  Peace  of  1763."  The  annals 
of  Carolina  are  brought  down  in  this  volume  to  the  final 
rejection  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  in  1693.  The 
second  volume  never  appeared.  The  work  as  far  as  it 
went  is  the  best  that  was  yet  written,  and  contains  much 
valuable  and  reliable  information.  This  also  is  repub- 
lished in  Carroll's  collections. 

Dr.  David  Ramsay  in  1785  —  two  years  after  the  end  of 
the  struggle  —  published  his  "History  of  the  Revolution  of 
South  Carolina  from  a  British  Province  to  an  Independent 
State,  in  two  volumes,"  and  this  work  in  1789  he  followed 
with  a  history  of  the  American  Revolution ;  and  in  1809 
he  published  "  The  History  of  South  Carolina  from  its 
First  Settlement  in  1670  to  the  year  1808."  This  last 
work  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  Proprietary  and  Royal  gov- 
ernments is  mostly  a  reproduction  of  parts  of  Hewatt's 
work.  He  follows  that  author  line  after  line,  and  page 
after  page.  He  appears  to  have  consulted  no  original 
documents  in  its  preparation.  His  first  volume  is  little 
more  than  an  abridgment  and  rearrangement  of  Hewatt's 
history ;  but  in  the  second  he  has  compiled  much  valuable 
information  in  regard  to  medical,  legal,  fiscal,  agricultural, 
and  commercial  affairs,  of  the  arts,  of  natural  history  and 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERKMENT      19 

literature,  and  has  appended  biographical  sketches  of  great 
interest.  The  chief  value  of  his  work  is  contained  in  the 
second  volume. 

Ramsay's  history  of  the  revolution  in  South  Carolina 
is  valuable  chiefly  for  the  number  of  original  documents 
it  preserves,  and  is  quite  full  so  far  as  it  records  the  trans- 
actions of  Congress  and  the  movements  of  the  Continen- 
tal army,  but  he  fails  to  appreciate  the  important  part 
acted  by  the  partisan  bands  in  South  Carolina  during  the 
period  in  which,  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  and  the  defeat 
of  Gates  at  Camden,  the  State  was  practically  abandoned 
by  Congress  as  lost.  His  silence  upon  the  subject  is  per- 
haps owing  to  the  fact  that  during  that  time  he  was  an 
exile  in  St.  Augustine,  cut  off  from  information  of  what 
was  passing  in  the  State,  and  that  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  important  services  rendered  by  those  patriots,  with- 
out a  government  of  any  kind  —  State  or  Continental  — 
to  support  them,  they  were  without  official  records  and 
their  deeds  dependent  for  historical  preservation  upon  pri- 
vate memoirs,  which  had  not  appeared  at  the  time  when 
Dr.  Ramsay  compiled  his  history. 

General  William  Moultrie  in  1802  published  two  vol- 
umes, entitled  "  Memoirs  of  the  American  Revolution  so  far 
as  it  related  to  the  States  of  North  and  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  compiled  from  the  most  authentic  materials,  the 
author's  personal  knowledge  of  the  various  events,  and  in- 
cluding an  epistolary  correspondence  in  public  affairs  with 
civil  and  military  officers  at  that  period."  These  volumes 
are  invaluable  for  the  original  papers  which  they  contain, 
surpassing  any  other  history  of  the  times  in  this  respect. 
The  personal  letters  he  gives  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon 
the  state  of  private  opinion  of  the  times,  and  are  scarcely 
less  valuable  than  the  numerous  public  papers,  orders,  re- 
ports, etc.,  which  are  thus  preserved.     General  Moultrie 


^0  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

was  a  prisoner  from  the  fall  of  Charles  Town,  and  so,  like 
Dr.  Ramsay,  was  not  a  participator  in  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  Sumter  and  Marion.  In  charge,  however,  under 
the  British  authorities  of  the  American  prisoners  taken  in 
Charles  Town,  he  gives  us  an  account  of  their  treatment, 
and  occasional  glimpses  of  what  was  passing  in  the  British 
lines,  which  he  obtained  in  such  intercourse  with  the  Brit- 
ish officers  as  his  position  allowed  or  called  for.  His  per- 
sonal recollections  were  recorded,  however,  too  long  after 
the  events  of  which  he  writes  to  insure  accuracy. 

In  1812  Colonel  Henry  Lee,  who  had  commanded  the 
famous  legion  in  the  campaigns  of  1781  and  1782,  pub- 
lished his  history,  entitled  "  Memoirs  of  the  War  in  the 
Southern  Department  of  the  United  States."  In  this 
work  Colonel  Lee  displays  abilities  as  a  writer  scarcely 
less  than  those  of  a  military  commander,  which  he  had  so 
signally  displayed  during  his  service  in  this  State.  As 
his  greed  for  fame,  however,  had  laid  him  open  to  the  ac- 
cusation of  improper  conduct  in  the  field,  it  led  him  also 
as  an  author  to  assume,  impliedly  at  least,  credit  to  him- 
self for  deeds  performed  by  others.  His  jealousy  of  Sum- 
ter and  Marion  was  very  great,  —  especially  of  Sumter,  — 
but  it  was  not  confined  to  them.  Tt  extended  also  to 
Major  Rudulph,  his  next  in  command  in  the  legion.  To 
secure  for  himself  the  honor  of  receiving  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Grandby  in  1781,  he  is  charged  with  granting  im- 
proper terms  to  the  British  commander  in  order  to  hasten 
the  surrender  before  Sumter,  who  had  hemmed  in  the  Brit- 
ish garrison  before  Lee's  arrival,  could  return  from  a  dash 
upon  Orangeburg.  The  taking  of  Fort  Galpin  he  leaves  to 
be  inferred  as  having  been  accomplished  by  himself,  when 
it  was  the  achievement  of  Major  Rudulph,  and  at  which  he 
was  not  even  present.  He  describes  the  battle  of  Quin- 
by's  Bridge  as  if  fought  by  him,  without  mentioning  the 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      21 

fact  that  General  Sumter  was  present  and  in  command. 
Colonel  Lee's  memoir  is  nevertheless  a  most  able,  impor- 
tant, and  valuable  work.  It  was  republished  and  edited 
by  his  distinguished  son,  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  in  1870, 
under  the  briefer  title  of  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  War  '76," 
and  is  so  cited  in  this  work. 

In  1816  Mason  L.  Weems,  of  Marjdand,  claiming  to  be 
an  Episcopal  clergyman,  his  ordination  as  such,  however, 
being,  at  least,  doubtful,  but  who  did,  nevertheless,  officiate 
at  Pohick  Church,  near  Mount  Vernon,  in  the  time  of  Gen- 
eral Washington,  wrote  a  life  of  General  Marion,  which 
he  published  as  the  joint  work  of  General  Peter  Horry 
and  himself.  General  Horry  disclaimed  the  honor. 
Weems  was  a  man  of  no  character,  but  became  famous  as 
an  author  and  travelling  book  agent  for  Mathew  Carey. 
An  Episcopal  clei-gyman,  as  he  claimed  to  be,  he  knew  no 
distinction  of  churches,  but  preached  in  every  pulpit  to 
which  he  could  gain  access,  and  from  each  of  which  he 
recommended  his  books.  He  carried  a  hddle  on  his 
drumming  tours,  and  when  he  could  find  no  pulpit  from 
which  to  cry  his  books  he  gathered  a  crowd  by  that  instru- 
ment. He  nevertheless  wrote  in  a  most  popular  style,  and 
his  Life  of  Washington,  published  in  1800,  went  through 
forty  editions.  His  Life  of  Marion  has  probably  gone 
through  as  many  and  is  still  republished.  These  works, 
says  Bishop  Meade,  have  been  probably  more  read  than 
those  of  Marshall,  Ramsay,  Bancroft,  and  Irving  put 
together.  Hence  it  is  that  Marion's  name  is  to  be  found 
all  over  the  United  States  in  the  nomenclature  of  towns 
and  postoffices.  As  historical  works  these  books  are 
absolutely  valueless  and  full  of  ridiculous  exaggerations 
and  false  statements.  The  best  that  can  be  said  of  them 
is  to  call  them  historical  romances.^ 

1  See  Old  Churches,  Ministers,  and  Families  of  Virginia,  Bishop 
Meade,  2  vol.,  233  ;  Alliboue's  Critical  Die.  of  English  Literature.    And 


22  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  appearance  of  Weems's  fanciful  tale,  besides  giv- 
ing fame  to  Marion  which  he  fully  deserved  upoii  better 
grounds  than  that  of  his  idle  story,  had  the  beneficial 
effect  of  calling  forth  a  most  admirable  and  authentic 
work  upon  the  subject  by  Major  William  Dobein  James, 
of  Marion's  brigade,  published  in  1821.  The  only  allu- 
sion, however,  which  Major  James  makes  to  Weems's  book 
is  the  statement,  in  his  preface,  that  the  original  of  the 
correspondence  between  General  Greene  and  General 
Marion  had  been  left  by  General  Horry  with  Weems; 
"  but  it  appears,"  James  observes,  that  "  he  made  no  use 
of  them." 

The  two  volumes  entitled  "Sketches  of  the  Life  and 
Correspondence  of  Nathaniel  Greene,  etc.,  by  the  Hon. 
William  Johnson,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,"  published  in  1822,  besides  a  brief  but 
excellent  sketch  of  the  settlement  of  the  province,  con- 
tains altogether  the  best  account  of  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution in  South  Carolina.  Unfortunately,  however,  Mr. 
Justice  Johnson,  in  his  zealous  advocacy  of  the  hero  of  his 
work,  became,  we  think,  misled  into  attributing  to  him  the 
credit  for  the  redemption  of  the  State,  at  the  expense  of 
Sumter  and  Marion,  and  their  heroic  followers.  To  repair 
this  unintentional  injustice  of  both  Ramsay  and  Johnson 
shall  be  our  earnest  effort,  if  in  the  publication  of  this 
volume  we  shall  find  sufficient  encouragement  to  pursue 
the  work  and  life,  and  time  shall  allow.  If  so,  we  shall 
attempt  to  correct  the  impression  and  to  show  to  how 
great  an  extent  the  ultimate  results  of  the  whole  revolu- 
tionary struggle  in  the  country  was  dependent  upon  the 

yet  it  is  such  a  work  as  Weems's  Life  of  Marion  that  is  gravely  cited  as 
authority  upon  the  subject  of  Education  in  South  Carolina  in  the  Report 
of  the  Commissioners  of  Education  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1893. 
See  vol.  I,  392. 


UNDER  THE  PKOPKIETARY  GOVERNMENT      23 

operations  of  the  partisan  bands  of  South  Carolina  and 
her  two  neighboring  States  —  operations  conducted  with- 
out military  commissions  to  require  or  sanction  them.  We 
shall  undertake  to  show  that  it  was  to  these  voluntary 
uprisings  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  their  friends  in  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  that 
the  whole  of  the  enemy's  plans  were  foiled,  frustrated,  and 
broken  up,  and  the  grand  culmination  of  Yorktown  ren- 
dered possible  ;  and  then  we  shall  critically  examine  the 
relative  claims  of  Greene  and  Lee,  of  Sumter,  Marion,  and 
Pickens,  to  the  glory  of  this  achievement. 

We  venture  to  believe  that  the  record  we  shall  present 
will  show  that  no  one  of  the  thirteen  original  States  of 
the  Union  suffered  so  severely  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion as  the  State  of  South  Carolina ;  that  in  no  one  was 
there  so  much  actual  warfare  ;  in  no  one  was  there  such 
an  uprising  of  the  people ;  in  no  one  was  so  much  accom- 
plished for  the  general  cause  —  and  that  with  so  little 
assistance.^ 

In  the  same  year   that   Judge  Johnson  published  his 

1  A  chronological  list  of  battles,  actions,  etc.,  is  given  in  an  Appendix 
to  a  work  entitled  Historical  Begister  of  Officers  of  the  Continental  Army 
during  the  War  of  the  lievolittion,  April,  2775,  to  December,  1788,  by 
F.  B.  Heitman,  Washington,  1893.  This  list  gives  the  names  of  315 
battles,  etc.  Of  these  89  took  place  in  the  State  of  New  York,  54  in 
South  Carolina,  34  in  New  Jersey,  24  in  Georgia,  21  in  North  Carolina, 
15  in  Canada,  15  in  Massachusetts,  14  in  Connecticut,  14  in  Virginia,  13 
in  Pennsylvania,  5  in  Rhode  Island,  3  in  Delaware,  3  in  Indiana,  2  in 
Vermont,  1  in  Maine,  1  in  Nova  Scotia,  1  in  Florida,  1  in  Chesapeake 
Bay,  1  in  Lake  Champlain,  and  3  elsewhere.  In  a  table  prepared  by  the 
author  of  this  work  he  has  a  list  of  130  battles,  engagements,  etc.,  which 
took  place  in  South  Carolina,  including,  of  course,  the  smallest  affairs, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  including  as  but  one  the  siege  of  Charleston, 
which  lasted  forty  days ;  the  siege  of  Ninety-Six,  which  lasted  twenty- 
seven  days,  etc.  His  tables  show  that  there  was  actual  fighting  in  every 
county  in  the  State  as  present  organized  but  three,  and  that  these  three 
were  traversed  by  both  armies. 


24  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

work  there  appeared  Dr.  Alexander  Garden's  "  Anecdotes 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  in  America,  with  Sketches  of 
Character  of  Persons  the  Most  Distinguished  in  the 
Southern  States  for  Civil  and  Military  Services."  The 
title  of  this  work  is  an  injustice  to  its  historical  character. 
It  is  really  a  series  of  most  valuable  biographical  sketches. 
The  popular  title  by  which  it  is  known,  ''  Garden's  An- 
ecdotes," would  not  lead  one  to  consult  it  for  the  valuable 
historical  information  which  it  contains.  The  anecdotes 
proper  which  it  relates  are  but  a  small  part  of  the  work. 
Authentic  sketches  and  incidents  of  the  Revolution  form 
by  far  the  greater  part. 

Besides  the  numerous  published  works  upon  the  subject 
of  the  Revolution,  British  and  American,  which  we  have 
been  able  to  consult,  too  numerous  to  mention,  we  have 
been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  had  access  to  two  volumes 
of  manuscript  letters  and  papers  of  General  Sumter,  con- 
taining all  of  General  Greene's  letters  to  him,  and  also  to 
copies  of  his  letters  to  General  Greene,  few  of  which  have 
yet  been  published.  This  correspondence,  together  with 
that  published  by  Major  Henry  Lee,  the  son  of  Colonel 
Henry  Lee,  in  his  work  entitled  "  Campaigns  in  the  Caro- 
linas,"  1824,  written  in  answer  to  Mr.  Justice  Johnson's 
claims  in  behalf  of  General  Greene,  throw  great  light  upon 
the  subject,  and  we  think  will  be  found  to  sustain  the  posi- 
tion we  shall  take  in  regard  to  the  relative  merits  of  the 
services  of  these  distinguished  men. 

In  1802  Governor  John  Drayton  published  under  the 
title  of  "A  View  of  South  Carolina"  a  brief,  but  most 
valuable,  treatise  relating  to  the  interior  economy  and 
material  resources  of  the  State,  containing  important  sta- 
tistical information.  To  this  he  added,  in  1821,  two  vol- 
umes of  Memoirs,  compiled  principally  from  the  papers  of 
William  Henry  Drayton,  his  distinguished  father,  in  which 


UNDEK  THE  PKOPKIETAKY  GOVERNMENT      25 

he  has  preserved  important  original  material,  chiefly  re- 
lating to  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  Revolution. 

In  1820  the  Rev.  Frederick  Dalcho,  M.D.,  compiled 
his  church  history.  It  is  entitled  "An  Historical  Ac- 
count of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  South  Caro- 
lina," etc.,  but  it  is  far  more  than  a  history  of  the  Church 
of  which  he  writes.  It  is  full  of  the  most  important 
information  in  regard  to  the  province  generally  and  is 
entirely  free  from  sectarian  bias. 

Mills's  Statistics  of  South  Carolina,  etc.,  published  in 
1826,  was  intended,  as  the  author  states  in  his  preface,  as 
an  appendix  to  his  great  work,  the  '*  Atlas  of  the  State." 
It  is  full  of  curious  and  interesting  information ;  unfort- 
unately, however,  it  is  not  so  reliable  historically  as  his 
atlas,  which  must  ever  remain  the  basis  of  every  subse- 
quent work.  His  statistics  are  unquestioned. and  supply;, 
a  want  in  the  liisfory"of  the  State.  Historically,  how- 
ever, he  is  inaccurate.  His  list  of  the  Proprietary  and 
Royal  Governors,  which  is  usually  followed,  is  incorrect, 
as  he  makes  no  distinction  between  the  Governors  and 
Lieutenant  Governors,  presidents  of  council  or  others 
acting  ad  interim.  There  were  no  natives  of  Carolina 
Governors  under  the  Royal  rule. 

He  watt  cites  no  authorities  in  his  Avork,  and  indeed 
appears  to  have  had  access  to  few  original  papers,  and, 
as  we  have  observed,  Ramsay  added  nothing  in  this  line ; 
it  remained  for  Mr.  B.  R.  Carroll,  in  1836,  to  give  to  the 
State  the  first  collection  of  original  documents  relating 
to  the  Proprietary  and  Royal  Governments.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  estimate  the  value  of  this  contribution  to  the 
study  of  the  history  of  the  State  in  the  two  volumes 
published.  His  compilation  is  entitled  "Historical  Col- 
lections of  South  Carolina,  Embracing  Many  Rare  and 
Valuable   Pamphlets   and   Other  Documents   Relating  to 


26  HISTOHY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  History  of  the  State  fronvits  Discovery  to  its  Inde- 
pendence in  the  Year  1776."  The  first  of  these  volumes 
contains  a  republication  of  Hewatt's  History.  The  second 
is  the  most  valuable  as  containing  the  original  papers 
upon  which  much  of  the  history  of  the  province  must 
depend. 

William  Gilmore  Simms,  the  poet,  novelist,  and  histo- 
rian of  the  State,  in  1840  produced  a  volume  originally 
conceived  with  the  view  to  the  instruction  of  an  only 
daughter  in  the  history  of  her  birthplace.  His  purpose, 
he  tells  us  in  the  preface  to  the  last  edition  of  the  work, 
was  to  present  something  more  than  an  abridgment  of 
the  previous  cumbersome  volumes  relating  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  State  in  a  cheap  and  popular  form.  He  made 
no  original  research  ;  but  accepted  the  statements  of 
Hewatt  and  Ramsay,  endeavoring  only  to  simplify  and 
popularize  the  style  of  their  story.  His  history,  so  pre- 
pared, has  gone  through  several  editions,  1840, 1842, 1860, 
but  is  now  out  of  print.  The  historical  reputation  of  the 
author  does  not,  however,  depend  upon  his  professed  his- 
tory, but  rather  upon  his  historical  novels.  It  is  in  these 
that  Mr.  Simms  has  brought  out  the  strong  individuality 
of  the  Carolina  character  as  it  impressed  itself  upon  the 
struggle  of  the  Revolution,  "and  developed  into  that 
unique  partisan  warfare  so  bold  in  its  conception,  so 
brilliant  in  its  performance,  so  triumphant  in  its  results." 
"  And  I  cannot  refer  to  this  glorious  portion  of  our  his- 
tory," observes  one  of  the  most  distinguished  sons  of 
Carolina,  the  Hon.  William  Henry  Trescot,  "  without  ac- 
knowledging the  debt  which  I  think  the  State  owes  to 
one  of  her  most  distinguished  sons  for  the  fidelity  with 
which  he  has  preserved  its  memory,  the  vigor  and  beauty 
with  which  he  has  painted  its  most  stirring  scenes  and 
kept   alive  in  fiction   the   portraits   of   it^   TOQsl^  famous 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERKMENT  27 

heroes.  I  consider  Mr.  Simms's  partisan  novels  as  an 
invaluable  contribution  to  Carolina  history."  ^ 

In  1851  Joseph  Johnson,  M.D.,  published  a  volume  of 
"  Traditions  and  Reminiscences  Chiefly  of  the  American 
Revolution  in  the  South,  including  Biographical  Sketches, 
Incidents,  and  Anecdotes,"  etc.  This  is  as  it  purports  to 
be  a  volume  of  traditions  and  reminiscences.  It  does  not 
assume  to  be  a  connected  history,  nor  to  be  taken  from 
original  sources.  The  traditions  which  the  author  gives 
are  sometimes,  therefore,  found  to  be  incorrect,  as  tradi- 
tions in  their  details  often  are,  but  the  volume  has  never- 
theless preserved  many  most  valuable  loose  papers,  and 
has  rescued  from  oblivion  and  preserved  many  most  im- 
portant and  interesting  incidents.  Especially  so  in  re- 
gard to  the  upper  country.  Its  great  value,  like  that  of 
the  second  volume  of  Ramsay's  History,  is  in  its  biograph- 
ical sketches  and  Revolutionary  incidents. 

In  1853  R.  W.  Gibbes,  M.D.,  published  a  volume  of 
"  Documentary  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  Con- 
sisting of  Letters  and  Papers  Relating  to  the  Contest  for 
Liberty.  Chiefly  in  South  Carolina  in  1781  and  1782, 
from  originals  in  the  possession  of  the  editor  and  from  other 
sources."  Dr.  Gibbes  says  in  his  preface  that  the  series 
of  letters  collected  by  General  Peter  Horry,  which  he 
published,  had  been  in  the  hands  of  Weems,  Garden,  and 
Simms,  who  have  each  written  a  life  of  Marion.  To  these 
he  has  added  a  few  letters,  which  he  selected  from  Tarle- 
ton's  Memoirs,  Ramsay's  Revolution  in  South  Carolina, 
Johnson's  Life  of  Greene,  Lee's  Memoirs  and  Lee's  Cam- 
paign of  1781.  The  original  letters  to  and  from  Greene, 
Sumter,  and  Marion,  and  of  Governor  Rutledge,  etc.,  are 
of  the  greatest  historical  value.     In  1855  Dr.  Gibbes  fol- 

1  Oration  of  Hon.  William  Henry  Trescot  before  the  South  Carolina 
Historical  Society,  May  19,  1859,  Coll.  Hist.  So.  Sc,  vol.  HI-  20, 


28  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

lowed  this  volume  with  a  second,  and  in  1857  with  a  third, 
bearing  the  same  title,  composed  chiefly  of  original  papers; 
the  second  relating  to  the  early  period  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  third  to  the  later.  The  two  last  are  quite  as 
valuable  as  the  first. 

In  1856  Mr.  Plowden  C.  J.  Weston  printed  for  private 
distribution  a  volume  entitled  "  Documents  Connected 
with  the  History  of  South  Carolina."  These  documents 
are  five  in  number.  The  first  two,  viz.  "  The  Land 
Travels  of  David  Ingram,  1568-9,"  and  the  "  Letters  of 
Capt.  Thomas  Young,"  etc.,  1634,  relate  but  indirectly,  if 
at  all,  to  the  history  of  Carolina.  The  other  three  are 
very  important.  They  are  :  (1)  "  Governor  Glen's  An- 
swers to  the  Lords  of  Trade,"  which  are  evidently  the 
original  of  a  tract  entitled  "A  Description  of  Carolina," 
etc.,  published  in  London,  1761,  and  reprinted  in  Carroll's 
collection ;  (2)  "  The  Letters  of  Richard  Cumberland, 
Esq.,  to  Roger  Pinckney,  Esq.,  his  Deputy,  with  Regard 
to  the  Provost  Marshalship  of  South  Carolina,"  and 
(3)  "  De  Braham's  Philosophico-Historico-Hydrogeography 
of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  East  Florida." 

The  State  owes  a  debt  of  deep  gratitude  to  these  col- 
lectors of  historical  material,  but  no  less  is  due  to  Professor 
William  James  Rivers  for  the  first  standard  work  upon 
her  history.  In  1856  Professor  Rivers,  then  of  the  South 
Carolina  College,  published  "A  Sketch  of  the- History  of 
South  Carolina  to  the  Close  of  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment, 1719,  with  Appendix  Containing  Many  Valuable 
Records."  This  history  is  compiled  from  original  docu- 
ments, and  the  authorities  upon  which  he  relies  for  his 
statements  are  all  given.  Its  accuracy  has  recently  been 
severely  tested  by  the  publication  of  the  Colonial  Records 
of  North  Carolina,  many  of  which  records  of  the  time  of 
the  Proprietary  Government  are  really  the  records  of  this 


tJ^Nt>ER  THE   I'ROl^RtETAJlY   GOVERNMENT  29 

province,  and,  in  the  main,  incidentally  only  to  North  Caro- 
lina—  and  also  by  the  manuscript  recently  obtained  by 
this  State  from  the  State  paper  office  in  London.  This 
test  has  sustained  the  accuracy  of  Professor  Rivers's  work, 
and  vindicated  his  conclusions  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

Professor  Rivers  has  made  other  most  valuable  contri- 
butions to  the  History  of  the  State,  Topics  on  the  History 
of  South  Carolina,  Chapters  on  Colonial  History,  etc. 

The  "  Collection  of  the  Historical  Society  of  South 
Carolina,"  the  publication  of  which  was  begun  in  1857, 
but  which,  from  the  late  war  and  various  causes,  have 
been  impeded,  contain  a  vast  amount  of  information,  and 
are  invaluable  to  the  student.  The  original  documents 
are  all  important  :  but  the  great  value  of  the  work  con- 
sists in  the  "  List  and  Abstract  of  Documents  Relating  to 
South  Carolina  now  Existing  in  the  State  Paper  Office, 
London,"  prepared  for  the  Society  by  their  agent,  the  late 
W.  Noel  Sainsbury,  assistant  keeper  of  the  public  records  ; 
the  Records  of  Council  of  Safety  in  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution ;  and  Mr.  Laurens's  narrative  of  his  capture 
and  imprisonment  in  the  town  from  1780  to  1782. 

In  1858  the  Hon.  John  Belton  O'Neal,  Chief  Justice  of 
the  State,  published  a  small  volume  entitled  "  The  Annals 
of  Newberry,"  in  which  much  information  in  regard  to 
the  settlement  of  that  district  (now  county)  is  given. 
The  next  year,  1859,  the  first  volume  of  a  proposed  His- 
tory of  the  Upper  Country  of  South  Carolina,  by  John  H. 
Logan,  appeared.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  the 
war,  and  Mr.  Logan's  subsequent  death,  should  have  put 
an  end  to  this  admirable  work,  which  promised  to  be  of 
such  great  value  to  the  State.  The  volume  published  is  full 
of  the  most  curious  information.  In  1867  the  "  History 
of  the  Old  Cheraws,"  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Alexander  Gregg, 
D.D.,  was  published.     This  work  contains  an  account  of 


30  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

the  aborigines  of  the  Pee-Dee,  the  first  white  settlements, 
their  subsequent  progress,  civil  changes,  the  struggle  of 
the  Revolution,  and  growth  of  the  country  afterward,  from 
1730  to  1810,  with  notices  of  families  and  sketches  of  in- 
dividuals. It  offers  the  most  complete  history  of  a  given 
section  of  the  State  to  be  found.  In  1870  the  Rev.  George 
Howe,  D.D.,  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Co- 
lumbia, South  Carolina,  published  a  "  History  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  South  Carolina."  This  volume  is  a 
mine  of  information  in  regard  to  the  settlement  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  State.  It  contains  much  new  matter  in 
regard  to  the  lower  country  also  ;  but  its  chief  value  is 
in  the  material  the  reverend  author  has  collected  about 
the  settlements  of  the  other  section.  He  has  done  very 
much  to  supply  the  work  upon  which  Mr.  Logan  was  en- 
gaged. It  is  not  without  its  significance  that  the  two 
Church  histories.  Episcopal  and  Presbyterian,  should  em- 
body so  much  that  is  of  interest  and  value  to  the  State  at 
large. 

In  1891  the  General  Assembly  of  the  States  provided 
for  the  appointment  of  a  commission  of  five  citizens  to  be 
known  as  "  The  Public  Record  Commission  of  South 
Carolina."  The  records  now  known  as  the  Shaftesbury 
papers,  the  transcripts  of  which  aggregate  about  a  thou- 
sand closely  written  cap-size  pages,  remained  in  the 
family  of  Sir  Ashley  Cooper  for  two  centuries.  The  late 
Earl  about  twenty  years  ago  deposited  these  original  docu- 
ments in  the  Public  Record  office  in  London.  These 
papers  were  at  once  classified,  catalogued,  and  made  ac- 
cessible to  the  public.  In  preparing  the  address  in  1883 
on  the  occasion  of  the  "  Centennial  of  Incorporation  of  the 
City  of  Charleston,"  the  Hon.  William  A.  Courtenay,  then 
mayor  of  the  city,  had  sent  him  through  Mr.  Sainsbury 
some  of  the  earliest  letters  and   other   documents  which 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  31 

he  used  upon  that  occasion.  The  names  of  the  colonists 
who  came  out  in  the  Carolina  under  Governor  Sayle  were 
first  published  in  that  address.  Impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  the  partial  information  thus  obtained,  he  sug- 
gested to  the  City  Council  to  secure  transcripts  of  the 
remaining  papers.  This  was  done,  and  subsequently 
these  earliest  records  of  South  Carolina  were  deposited 
with  the  South  Carolina  Historical  Society,  accompanied 
by  an  appropriation  to  promote  their  publication.  The 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  also  contributed  to  the 
same  purpose,  and  these  valuable  records  are  now  in  press 
and  will  shortly  appear.  Mayor  Courtenay  has  for  two 
decades  been  an  active  worker  in  State  history  ;  during 
his  mayoralty  he  edited  and  published  eight  octavo  vol- 
umes of  municipal  department  reports,  with  an  appendix 
to  each  volume  of  original  historical  papers.  These  ap- 
pendices contain  in  all  twelve  hundred  pages  of  interesting 
and  valuable  material  not  accessible  elsewhere.  His  Cen- 
tennial Address,  subsequently  revised  and  enlarged  at  the 
request  of  the  City  Council,  contains  the  only  connected 
sketch  of  the  history  of  Charleston  in  print.  The  church 
histories  prepared  especially  for  his  Year  Books  are  full  of 
local  information  of  value.  In  the  Cartography  of  South 
Carolina  there  are  twenty-four  maps,  from  the  first  ever 
drawn  of  dates  1672  down  to  later  years.  The  most  of 
these  are  rare  and  difficult  to  purchase  even  at  high  prices. 
Each  map  has  been  reproduced  in  fac-simile  from  originals, 
and  together  form  a  most  desirable  cartographical  collec- 
tion. In  1890-91  Mayor  Courtenay  originated  a  plan  for 
procuring  transcripts  of  all  the  papers  relating  to  South 
Carolina  in  the  London  record  office,  and  was  chiefly  in- 
strumental in  obtaining  the  passage  of  an  act  creating  the 
Public  Record  Commission  of  South  Carolina.  This 
commission  consisted  of  the  Hon.  J.  E.  Tindall,  Secretary 


32  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

of  State,  ex  officio  chairman,  the  Hon.  Henry  Mclver,  Chief 
Justice,  Hon.  William  A.  Courtenay,  Hon.  W.  C.  Benet, 
and  Professor  R.  Means  Davis,  whose  duty  it  was  made 
to  procure  transcripts  of  such  documents  relating  to  the 
history  of  South  Carolina  as  they  might  deem  necessary 
or  important,  and  appropriations  were  made  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  commission  immediately  upon  its  appointment 
chose  Mr.  W.  Noel  Sainsbury,  who  was  then  retired  from 
his  official  position  in  England,  as  the  agent  of  the  State 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  transcripts  of  every  paper 
relating  to  the  province  and  colony  of  Carolina  from  the 
date  of  the  first  charter  of  the  Lords  Proprietors,  1663,  to 
the  overthrow  of  the  Royal  Government,  in  1775.  In  the 
three  years  since  the  commission  has  received  and  placed 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  thirty-six  volumes 
of  manuscript  colonial  records  and  fifteen  hundred  pages 
of  missing  journals  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly. 
These  volumes,  together  with  the  colonial  records  of 
North  Carolina,  obtained  from  the  same  source  and  pub- 
lished by  that  State,  and  the  Shaftesbury  papers,  copied 
for  the  City  Council  of  Charleston,  in  1883,  under  the 
direction  of  Mayor  Courtenay,  deposited  with  the  South 
Carolina  Historical  Society,  and  just  now  about  to  be  pub- 
lished, with  the  papers  published  as  appendix  to  the  work 
of  Professor  Rivers's  Historical  Sketches  of  South  Caro- 
lina, present  nearly,  if  not  every,  paper  of  public  interest 
relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  province.  The  man- 
uscript volumes  thus  obtained  by  the  commission  have 
been  entitled  by  them  "  Public  Records,"  and  will  be  so 
quoted  in  the  following  work. 

A  great  revival  of  interest  in  colonial  history  has  re- 
cently taken  place  all  over  the  country,  and  renewed 
attention  is  given  to  that  of  each  of  the  old  thirteen 
States.     In  this  study  the  history  of  this  State  is  receiv- 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARlT   GOVERNMENT  33 

ing  its  full  share.  In  the  series  of  studies  instituted  by 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  historical  and  political 
science  three  volumes  have  been  issued  relating  to  South 
Carolina. 

The  first  of  these  is  one  by  B.  James  Ramage,  A.B., 
entitled  "Local  Government  and  Free  Schools  in  South 
Carolina,"  first  part  read  before  the  Historical  Society  of 
South  Carolina,  December  15,  1882.  It  is  composed  of 
two  short  essays,  in  the  first  of  which  the  author  traces 
very  briefly  the  history  of  the  organizations  of  the  parish, 
district,  and  county,  and  in  the  second  that  of  the  free 
schools.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  limits  which  the 
author  prescribed  for  himself  did  not  permit  a  further 
investigation  into  these  interesting  subjects  —  a  regret 
the  more  felt  because  of  the  excellent  treatment  of  them 
as  far  as  he  has  gone. 

The  second  of  these  is  one  by  Shirley  Carter  Hughson, 
entitled  "The  Carolina  Pirates  and  Colonial  Commerce, 
1670-1740  "  (Twelfth  Series,  V,  VI,  VII),  1894.  The 
title  to  this  volume  we  think  misleading.  There  were 
few  or  no  "Carolina  Pirates."  Pirates  infested  the  Caro- 
lina coast.  When  their  nest  in  New  Providence  was 
broken  up  in  1718  by  the  British  Government,  they  sought 
refuge  in  the  Cape  Fear  and  other  less  commodious  har- 
bors on  the  coast,  and  from  these  points  they  carried  on 
their  depredations.  But  these  pirates  were  as  much  ene- 
mies of  the  people  of  Carolina  as  the  Indian  savages  in 
the  woods  behind  our  colony.  While,  however,  we  differ 
from  the  author  in  some  respects,  we  recognize  the  thor- 
oughness of  his  work,  and  admire  his  graphic  descriptions 
of  the  actions  between  the  Carolina  forces  and  these  for- 
midable buccaneers.  Mr.  Hughson's  story  of  these  pirates 
and  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  met,  beaten,  and 
destroyed  by  Colonel  Rhett  and  Governor  Robert  Johnson 


'^ 


34  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

is  well  told  and  full  of  romance.  We  shall  follow  closely 
his  statements  of  facts  in  regard  to  them. 

The  other  volume,  published  by  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  is  one  by  Professor  Edison  L.  Whitney,  Ph.D., 
LL.B.,  professor  of  history,  Benzonia,  Michigan.  This 
monograph,  the  author  says,  aims  to  give  a  description  of 
the  Government  of  South  Carolina  during  the  colonial 
period  from  the  constitutional  point.  The  author  states 
in  his  preface  that  the  foot-notes  have  been  made  more 
numerous  than  was  necessary  in  order  to  show  to  the 
reader  where  to  turn  for  fuller  information,  rather  than 
to  furnish  authorities  for  statements  in  his  work.  This, 
we  think,  is  unfortunate,  for  in  such  a  work  the  most 
important  purpose  of  such  notes  is  to  give  the  authority 
upon  which  the  historian  relies  for  his  statements,  and  in 
this  work  the  authorities  given  in  the  notes  do  not  always, 
we  think,  bear  out  the  statements  of  the  text.  The  author 
has  undoubtedly  given  much  patient  research  to  his  sub- 
ject and  has  consulted  a  number  of  authorities  to  which 
he  refers.  His  difficulty  has  been  that  in  pursuing  "  the 
special  method"  which  he  has  adopted,  rather  than  a 
chronological  order,  he  has  at  times  lost  the  historical  con- 
nection which  is  necessary  in  order  to  understand  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  he  cites.  He  has  attempted  to  evolve 
a  system  from  the  letter  of  the  statute  without  reference 
to  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  passed  or  to  the 
question  whether  it  was  indeed  actually  put  in  operation. 

He  has  also  fallen  into  the  serious  error  of  stating  that 
while  Lieutenant  Governors  were  frequently  appointed  in 
the  islands,  they  were  seldom  on  the  Continent,  and  that 
Colonel  Broughton  was  the  only  Lieutenant  Governor  com- 
missioned in  South  Carolina.  This  is  altogether  a  mis- 
take. Lieutenant  Governors  were  often  appointed  on 
the  Continent.     They  were  so  appointed  in  New  York, 


UNDER   THE   I»R0PRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  35 

Maryland,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Florida.  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  Broughton,  who  succeeded  to  the  admin- 
istration of  the  government  upon  the  death  of  Governor 
Robert  Johnson,  May  3,  1735,  died  on  the  22d  No- 
vember, 1737,  whereupon,  no  Governor  having  yet  been 
appointed  by  his  Majesty  in  the  place  of  Governor  John- 
son, William  Bull,  the  son  of  Stephen  Bull,  the  emi- 
grant, succeeded  to  the  administration  as  President  of 
the  Council,  but  on  the  3d  of  June,  1738,  was  appointed 
Lieutenant  Governor,  and  so  continued  until  his  death, 
23d  May,  1755,  a  period  of  seventeen  years.  His  son, 
William  Bull,  who  had  been  Speaker  while  his  father  was 
Lieutenant  Governor,  was  commissioned  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor in  1759,  and  so  continued  until  the  overthrow  of 
the  Royal  Government  in  1775,  a  period  of  sixteen  years. 
The  father  and  son  thus  being  Lieutenant  Governors 
thirty-three  years.  Neither  father  nor  son  was  ever  Gov- 
ernor. The  list  of  Royal  Governors,  given  in  Appendix 
II  to  the  work,  following  that  prepared  by  Mills,  is  in- 
correct. Arthur  Middleton  was  never  Governor.  He 
was  "President  of  the  Council,"  and  as  such  adminis- 
tered the  government  during  the  absence  of  Governor 
Nicholson.  He  was  addressed  as  "  President  and  Com- 
mander-in-chief." The  first  Lieutenant  Governor  Bull's 
administration  was  between  the  death  of  Governor  John- 
son and  the  appearance  in  the  province  of  Governor  Glen 
(five  years  after  his  appointment) .  He  continued  as  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  for  twelve  years,  during  Governor  Glen's 
commission,  and  after,  until  his  death.  The  second  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  Bull  held  his  commission  through  the 
administrations  of  Governors  Lyttleton,  Boone,  Lord 
Charles  Greville  Montague,  and  Lord  William  Camp- 
bell. Neither  was  deputy  to  any  particular  Governor, 
but  held  his  office  independently  of  the  Governor's  tenure. 


86  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

The  Governor  was  addressed  as  "  His  Excellency " ;  the 
Lieutenant  Governor,  even  though  administering  the  gov- 
ernment, was  but  "His  Honor." 

This  error  of  the  author  touches  upon  a  material  point 
in  the  Colonial  history  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  one 
of  the  grievances  of  the  colonists  that  none  of  them 
could  ever  hope  to  receive  the  highest  appointments  in 
the  province.  These  were  reserved  for  placemen  from 
England.  Broughton  and  the  Bulls,  however  well  they 
might  administer  the  government  in  the  absence  of  a 
Governor,  could  never  aspire  to  be  more  than  Lieutenant 
Governors ;  Charles  Pinckney,  however  learned  as  a 
lawyer,  could  hold  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  only  until  it 
suited  the  convenience  of  the  Royal  Government  to 
bestow  it  upon  some  disappointed  favorite  at  Westmin- 
ster. The  colonists  resisted  the  ignoring  of  Pinckney's 
appointment  by  the  local  government  as  Chief  Justice 
in  the  place  of  Graeme,  deceased,  and  the  sending  out  Mr. 
Peter  Leigh,  a  discredited  English  barrister,  instead.  They 
were  especially  urgent  that  William  Bull,  the  younger, 
should  receive  the  appointment  of  Royal  Governor  to  suc- 
ceed Lord  Montague,  and  the  appointment  of  Lord  William 
Campbell  instead  was  perhaps  one  of  the  influences  which 
turned  the  scales  of  the  Revolution  in  South  Carolina. 

Among  the  contributions  to  Educational  History,  edi- 
ted by  Herbert  B.  Adams  and  published  by  the  bureau 
of  education  of  the  United  States,  is  a  very  able  mono- 
graph, in  1889,  entitled  "History  of  Higher  Education 
in  South  Carolina,  with  a  Sketch  of  the  Free  School  Sys- 
tem," by  Colyer  Meriwether,  A.B.,  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity. In  this  sketch  is  traced  the  development  of  the 
free  or  public  school  system  of  the  State.  The  earliest 
educational  efforts  are  described  and  instances  are  given 
illustrating  the  interest  of  South  Carolina,  when  yet  a 
colony,    in    providing    the    means  for    the    intellectual 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      37 

improvement  of  her  sons.  To  this  volume  is  added  as 
an  appendix  a  republication  of  a  paper  read  before  the 
Historical  Society  of  South  Carolina,  August  6,  1888,  by 
Edward  McCrady,  Jr.,  entitled  "Colonial  Education  in 
South  Carolina"  —  a  refutation  of  the  charge  made  by 
Mr.  McMaster,  in  his  History  of  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  of  the  neglect  of  education  in  South 
Carolina  prior  to  and  during  the  Revolution. 

The  present  volume  will  be  restricted  to  the  history  of 
South  Carolina  during  the  Proprietary  Government,  i.e. 
from  the  settlement  of  the  colony  under  the  Royal 
charter  to  the  overthrow  of^e  Proprietors'  rule,  in  1719,  , 
a  period  of  fifty  years.  f\  yerj  brief  review  will  be  /^ 
taken  of  the  first  explorations  of  the  coast  and  the  '^^^ 
attempted  Huguenot  colony  under  Ribault.  We  shall  14^ 
more  critically  examine  the  exegesis  of  the  charters  under 
which  the  colony  was  founded,  and  the  famous  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  of  Locke,  which  the  Proprietors  so 
persistently  attempted  to  impose.  We  shall  trace  the 
progress  of  the  colony  from  the  arrival  of  the  first  adven- 
turers and  their  settlement  at  Old  Town  on  the  Ashley; 
its  removal  to  Oyster  Point,  the  present  site  of  the  city 
of  Charleston,  and  its  gradual  extension;  the  peopling  of 
the  province  from  different  sources,  and  the  peculiar 
influences  upon  its  development  of  the  Barbadian  and 
Huguenot  elements  of  the  population.  We  shall  tell  of 
the  struggle  between  the  Proprietors  to  enforce  the 
extraordinary  system  devised  by  Locke,  and  the  success- 
ful resistance  of  the  people  under  the  lex  scripta  of  the 
charters.  Then  we  shall  follow  the  contest  over  the 
Church  Acts  involving  the  naturalization  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, resisted  by  the  dissenters  because  of  the  affiliations 
of  those  people  with  the  churchmen.  These  commotions 
we  shall   see   to   have   had   their   origin   in   the   mother 


38  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

country,  and  to  have  been  intimately  connected  with  the 
purposes  of  political  parties  there.  The  devolution  of 
the  titles  of  the  Proprietary  shares  in  the  province  by 
deaths  and  assignments  we  shall  observe  materially 
affecting  the  affairs  of  the  colony. 

We  shall  tell  of  the  contests  of  the  colonists  with  the 
Spaniards,  the  French,  the  Indians,  and  the  pirates  —  how 
well  they  maintained  the  outpost  so  necessary  to  the 
claim  of  England's  dominion  on  the  American  Continent, 
and  how  firmly  and  bravely  they  met  the  pirates,  consti- 
tuting, at  the  time,  a  power  which  defied  the  distant 
governments  of  Europe,  and  preyed  upon  the  colonial 
commerce  —  how  vigorously  and  sternly  they  brought 
those  enemies  of  the  human  race  to  judgment  and 
inflicted  upon  them  the  extreme  penalties  of  the  law. 

Despite  political  turmoil,  hurricane,  pestilence,  and  fire, 
the  tomahawk  of  the  Indian,  and  the  sword  of  the  French 
and  Spaniard,  we  shall  find  the  colony  gradually  devel- 
oping from  an  emigrants'  camp  to  social  order  and  settled 
government,  and  carrying  on  successfully  at  their  ex- 
treme end  of  the  line  of  English  colonies  the  experiment 
of  representative  government.  We  shall  find  them  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  great  fortunes,  building  churches, 
quarrelling  over  religion,  but  withal  strenuously  maintain- 
ing it,  and  curiously  mixing  Puritan  fanaticism  with  High 
Church  dogma,  founding  schools  and  libraries,  and  laying 
so  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  jurisprudence  that 
that  structure  has  continued  to  this  day  to  rest  upon  the 
code  of  laws  adopted  in  1712. 

Then  we  shall  have  to  tell  of  the  revolution  encour- 
aged, if  not  indeed  instigated,  by  the  Royal  Government 
in  England,  by  which  the  Proprietary  Government  was 
overthrown,  and  the  province  of  South  Carolina  taken 
under  the  immediate  government  of  his  Majesty,  King 
George  the  First. 


CHAPTER  I 

Christopher  Columbus  accepting  the  theory  of  the  ro- 
tundity of  the  earth,  in  1492  sailed  westward,  assured  that 
unless  he  discovered  some  new  country  in  the  yet  unex- 
plored seas  he  must  reach  the  Indies,  the  easternmost 
limits  of  the  known  world.  Upon  his  discovery  of  the 
islands  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  Indies,  he  returned 
to  Spain  with  the  great  tidings,  and  Pope  Alexander  VI 
generously  bestowed  the  new  countries  upon  the  King- 
doms of  Leon  and  Castile,  on  the  condition  that  they 
should  labor  to  extirpate  idolatries  and  plant  the  holy 
faith  in  the  New  World.  In  his  second  voyage,  in  1493, 
Columbus  discovered  more  islands  and  coasted  along  a 
part  of  South  America.  In  his  first  voyage  his  course 
had  been  diverted  by  the  flight  of  birds  to  the  southwest 
—  and  never,  it  has  been  said,  had  a  flight  of  birds  such 
important  consequences.  This  southerly  direction  Colum- 
bus and  his  followers  continued  to  pursue,  and  so  it  was 
that  the  northern  continent  escaped  their  knowledge. 

Had  the  course  of  Columbus  not  thus  been  deflected,  he 
would  have  entered  the  warm  current  of  the  Gulf  Stream, 
have  reached  Florida,  and  thence  perhaps  been  carried  to 
the  coast  of  Carolina  or  Virginia.  The  result  would  prob- 
ably have  been,  as  it  has  been  observed,  that  the  territory 
of  the  present  United  States  would  have  been  given  a 
Roman  Catholic  Spanish  population  instead  of  a  Protes- 
tant English  one  —  a  circumstance  of  immeasurable  im- 

39 


40  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

portance.^  As  it  happened,  the  only  foothold  the  Spaniards 
obtained  in  this  territory  was  in  Florida,  and  the  only 
English  colonists  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  and 
collision  were  those  in  Carolina.  In  the  year  1496  John 
Cabot,  a  Venetian  then  in  England,  perceiving  by  the  globe, 
as  he  thought,  that  the  islands  found  by  Columbus  stood 
almost  in  the  same  latitude  with  England,  and  much 
nearer  thereto  than  to  Portugal  and  Castile,  obtained  from 
King  Henry  VII  two  ships  and  three  hundred  men,  with 
which  he  embarked  upon  a  voyage  of  discovery  of  his 
own.  He  sailed  westwardly,  discovered  Newfoundland, 
and  coasted  along  the  shores  of  North  America,  Salvano 
says,  till  he  came  to  38  degrees  towards  the  equinoctial 
line — that  is,  somewhere  off  the  coast  of  Virginia,  and 
from  thence  returned  to  England.  "  There  be  others,"  he 
adds,  "  which  say  that  he  went  as  far  as  the  Cape  of  Florida 
which  standeth  in  25  degrees.  "^  Columbus  was  diverted 
to  the  south  by  the  flight  of  birds.  Sebastian  Cabot, 
upon  the  death  of  his  father,  like  Columbus,  seeking  a  way 
to  India,  ascended  Hudson's  Bay,  and  pressed  on  among  ice- 
bergs until  the  mutiny  of  her  crew  compelled  him  to  turn 
back.  Thus  it  was  that  the  first  discoverers  of  America, 
seeking  a  way  to  India,  turned  aside  from  the  great  Con- 
tinent, the  one  to  the  tropics,  and  the  other  to  the  Arctic 
regions. 

In  1495  the  Spaniards  had  established  themselves  upon 
the  Island  of  Hayti  or  Hispaniola,  which  became  the  seat 
of  their  great  power  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  seventeen  years  later  that  they  became 
aware  of  the  Continent  so  near  them  on  the  north.  In 
1512  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  discovered  the  mainland  of 
Florida  on  Easter,  Pascha  Floridum,  the  supposed  deri- 

1  John  Nichol,  LL.D.,  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  "America." 

2  Hakluyt'8  Voyages,  Supplement,  17,  18. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      41 

vation  of  the  name.  He  landed,  it  is  said,  at  a  place 
called  the  Bay  of  the  Cross,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  site 
of  St.  Augustine,  took  possession,  and  erected  a  stone  cross 
in  sign  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Spain.  This  was  to  be  the 
place  of  the  first  European  settlement  on  the  Continent  of 
America,  and  was  to  be  the  source  of  numerous  woes  to 
the  English  colonists  of  Carolina. 

The  first  Europeans  who  trod  the  soil  of  Carolina  were 
Spaniards  who  sailed  in  1520  from  Hispaniola,  seeking  in 
the  Lucayos  or  Bahama  Islands  a  supply  of  Indians  to  take 
back  with  them  to  work  as  slaves  in  their  gold  mines,  a 
third  part  of  the  nation  of  Hispaniola  having  perished 
within  three  years  after  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of 
the  island.  Two  vessels  fitted  out  by  Lucas  Vasquez 
de  Ally  on  for  this  purpose,  driven  by  tempest,  more  by 
chance  than  with  any  design  of  discovery,  reached  the 
coast  about  the  latitude  of  32  degrees.  The  adventurers 
entered  a  bay,  a  cape  of  which  they  named  St.  Helena, 
and  a  river  in  its  vicinity  they  called  the  Jordan. ^ 
Though  the  Spaniards  had  now  been  at  St.  Augustine 
for  eight  years,  the  natives  of  the  region  do  not  appear 
to  have  known  of  their  presence.  When,  therefore,  the 
Spanish  vessels  made  to  the  shore,  the  natives,  aston- 
ished as  at  a  miracle,  thought  some  monster  had  come 
among  them  —  they  never  before  having  seen  a  vessel. 
They  fled  upon  the  approach  of  the  vessels,  but  two  swift 
and  nimble  young  Spaniards  overtook  a  man  and  woman 
and  brought  them  to  the  ship.  Clothing  and  loading  these 
with  presents  and  sending  them  back,  the  Spaniards  gained 

1  Rivers,  after  a  close  examination  of  the  accounts  of  early  voyages, 
old  maps,  and  charts,  is  not  prepared  to  admit  that  the  "  Jordan  "  is  the 
Combahee,  as  most  writers  assert,  but  concludes  that  the  "Jordan" 
could  not  have  been  far  from  the  Savannah.  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Oa. 
(Rivers),  15. 


42  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

the  confidence  of  the  Indians,  and  were  kindly  treated  by 
them.  After  some  stay  on  the  coast  and  a  partial  exami- 
nation of  the  country,  the  Spaniards  enticed  the  Indians, 
whose  confidence  they  had  gained,  on  board  their  vessels, 
and  when  their  decks  were  crowded  they  suddenly  drew 
up  their  anchor  and  unfurled  their  sails,  carrying  off  to  a 
wretched  fate  the  guests  they  had  received  with  all  the 
appearances  of  friendship.  One  of  the  vessels  on  its  re- 
turn foundered  at  sea,  and  all  on  board  perished.  Many 
of  the  captives  on  the  remaining  vessel,  pining  with  grief, 
refused  to  take  food  and  died  before  the  end  of  the  voyage. 
Of  those  who  survived,  most  languished  in  their  bondage 
and  sank  under  their  sufferings.  The  rest  became  too 
feeble  for  the  mines  and  were  distributed  among  the 
people  of  Hispaniola  as  domestic  servants  or  in  the 
lighter  tasks  of  husbandry. 

The  countries  around  the  bay  into  which  the  ships  of 
Vasquez  had  entered  on  the  one  side  were  called  Duharhe 
or  Gualdape,  and  on  the  other  Chicora.^  Vasquez,  who 
was  a  citizen  of  Toledo,  a  licentiate,  professor  of  judi- 
cature, one  of  the  senators  of  Hispaniola,  returning  to 
Spain  to  procure  leave  to  plant  a  colony,  took  with  him 
as  a  servant  one  of  the  Chicoranes,  whom  he  had  baptized, 
giving  to  him  the  Christian  name  Francis  and  the  sur- 
name of  Chicora.  Peter  Martyr  in  his  history  of  the  New 
World  says  that  he  sometimes  had  both  Vasquez  the  mas- 
ter and  Chicora  his  servant  as  his  guests,  and  retails  the 
most  extraordinary  stories  which  they  told  concerning  the 
inhabitants  of  Chicora  and  Duharhe,  especially  of  the  lat- 
ter country,  whose  inhabitants  they  said  were  white,  and 
had  a  king  of  giant-like  stature  and  height,  called  Datha, 

1  Rivers  calls  attention  to  the  mistake  made  by  several  authors  in 
giving  the  name  of  Chicora  to  the  whole  of  this  country,  and  not  merely 
to  a  part  of  it,  as  in  the  text. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  43 

and  that  the  queen  his  wife  was  not  much  shorter  than 
himself.  Martyr  was  not,  however,  inclined  to  accept  these 
wonderful  tales  told  by  Vasquez,  "nor  did  Francis  the 
Chicorane,  who  was  present,"  he  observes,  "  free  us  from 
that  controversie."  ^  Indeed,  as  Rivers  observes,  the  captive 
seems  to  have  acquiesced  in  any  story  his  master  made.^ 

In  the  year  1524  Vasquez  made  another  voyage  to  the 
coast  of  Carolina ;  but  the  true  events  of  the  expedition 
are  not  certainly  known. ^  It  is  believed  that  he  reached 
in  safety  the  place  which  he  had  before  visited,  that  one 
of  his  vessels  was  stranded,  and  that  a  number  of  his 
men  whom  he  sent  ashore  perished  by  the  hands  of  the 
natives  —  a  just  retaliation  for  his  treacherous  conduct  in 
the  previous  expedition. 

The  failure  of  this  expedition  and  the  equally  disastrous 
fate  of  Narvaez  and  of  De  Soto  and  their  companions 
disheartened  the  Spaniards,  and  their  abandonment  of  the 
country  for  forty  years  left  it  open  to  exploration  and 
occupancy  by  adventurers  from  other  European  states. 

In  January,  1524,  Giovanni  Verrazzano  set  out  on  a 
voyage  of  discovery  in  behalf  of  Francis  I  of  France.*  He 
reached  the  Continent  34  degrees  north  latitude,  and 
searching  for  a  harbor  landed  probably  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Cape  Fear.  He  returned  to  France  in  July  of  the 
same  year.  Upon  this  discovery  and  those  made  in  Canada, 
the  French  claimed  the  greater  part  of  North  America 
under  the  title  of  New  France ;  but  civil  and  religious 
wars  at  home  distracted  at  the  time  their  attention  from 


1  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  Supplement,  620,  621. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  16. 

8  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  Supplement,  33  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  17. 

4  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  vol.  Ill,  295  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers), 
18. 


44  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

the  New  World.  Thirty  odd  years  after,  Coligny,  admiral 
of  France  and  leader  of  the  Huguenot  party,  obtained  per- 
mission from  Charles  IX  to  establish  a  colony  of  Prot- 
estants in  New  France.  Jean  Ribault  was  sent  out  in 
command  of  two  of  the  King's  ships  and  a  company  of 
veterans,  together  with  many  gentlemen  who  joined  the 
expedition,  to  discover  a  suitable  place  for  the  colony. ^ 

The  course  of  navigation  from  Europe  to  America  had 
continued  to  follow  the  direction  given  to  it  by  Columbus, 
by  way  of  the  Spanish  Islands  in  the  West  Indies,  but  Ri- 
bault ventured  directly  across  the  Atlantic,  and  on  the  30th 
of  April,  1562,  reached  the  Continent  in  30  degrees  north 
latitude.  He  landed  at  a  river  he  called  May,  because  he 
discovered  it  on  the  first  of  the  month  of  that  name,  but 
it  is  now  known  as  the  St.  John's  River  in  Florida.  From 
this  point  Ribault  sailed  along  the  coast  towards  the  north, 
looking  for  the  River  "  Jordan,"  which  the  Spaniards  had 
visited  forty  years  before ;  and  on  the  27th  of  May  he 
cast  anchor  in  a  depth  of  ten  fathoms,  at  the  opening  of  a 
spacious  bay,  which  from  cape  to  cape  was  three  leagues 
wide  and  formed  the  entrance  to  a  noble  river,  which  he 
named  Port  Royal. 

Charmed  with  the  magnificent  forests,  the  stately 
cedars,  the  wide-spreading  oaks,  and  fragrant  shrubs,  they 
explored  the  adjacent  country  ;  they  sailed  up  the  Broad 
River,  and  passed  probably  through  Whale  Branch  uniting 
with  the  Coosaws.2  The  Indians  fled  at  first  upon  the 
approach  of  the  French,  but  their  timidity  was  soon  over- 
come by  the  sight  of  various  articles  of  merchandise,  and 
they  were  encouraged  by  friendly  gestures ;  in  their  turn 
they  brought  presents  of  deerskins,  and  baskets  made  of 
palm  leaves,  and  a  few  pearls.     They  built  an  arbor  of 

1  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  vol.  Ill,  308-319. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  22. 


tJNDBR   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERI^MENT  45 

boughs  to  shelter  their  visitors  from  the  heat  of  the  sun 
and  sought  with  manifest  good  will  to  induce  Ribault 
and  his  party  to  remain  with  them.  This  kindness  of 
the  natives  Ribault  returned  by  an  attempt  to  capture 
some  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  one  or  two  to 
France,  in  accordance  with  the  command  of  the  Queen,  as 
Verrazzano  and  Vasquez  and  Columbus  had  done  before. 
For  this  purpose  he  had  induced  two  to  accompany  him 
to  his  ships,  but  when  they  perceived  that  they  were  to  be 
carried  away  they  escaped,  leaving  all  the  gifts  they  had 
received. 

Ribault  then  proceeded  to  take  possession  of  these 
regions  in  the  name  of  his  king  and  of  his  country,  and 
erected  a  stone  pillar  engraved  with  French  armorials 
upon  a  hillock  on  an  island  which  is  believed  to  be  that 
now  known  as  Lemon  Island,  about  three  leagues  up 
Broad  River.  ^  Leaving  twenty-six  of  his  followers,  who 
volunteered  to  remain  under  Captain  Albert  de  la  Pierria, 
whom  he  appointed  to  command  them,  Ribault  returned 
to  France  to  report  to  Admiral  Coligny  what  he  had 
accomplished  and  to  procure  further  aid  in  establishing  a 
permanent  settlement. 

On  the  11th  of  June,  1562,  Ribault  and  his  companions 
took  leave  of  his  garrison  and  fired  a  salute  to  Fort  Charles, 
as  they  had  named  the  fort  they  had  built,  and  from  whose 
battlements  the  flag  of  France  first  waved  in  North  Amer- 
ica. Ribault  arrived  in  France  on  the  20th  of  July,  after 
an  absence  of  five  months.  He  entertained  no  fear  of 
danger  to  the  small  garrison  he  had  left  at  Fort  Charles ; 
but  the  civil  war  breaking  out  in  France,  his  return  was 
delayed. 

The  natives  in  the  neighborhood  of  Port  Royal  Avere 
disposed  to  be  very  friendly  to  the  French,  and  the  garri- 
1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  24. 


46  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLIKA 

son  maintained  their  friendship  by  presents  of  knives, 
hatchets,  clothing,  toys  and  trinkets,  and  the  still  more  effi- 
cacious influence  of  the  Indian  dread  of  their  firearms 
and  superior  deadly  weapons.  But  the  Indians  were  im- 
provident, planting  no  more  corn  than  would  serve  for  one 
season.  The  safety  of  the  garrison  depended,  therefore,  on 
their  own  tilling  of  the  fertile  lands  adjacent  to  the  fort 
and  laying  in  a  supply  of  food,  for  which  they  had  ample 
time,  but  with  the  unthrifty  habits  of  soldiers  they  were 
as  improvident  as  the  Indians.  When,  however,  their  pro- 
visions first  began  to  run  short  they  were  abundantly  sup- 
plied by  a  powerful  Indian  chief  named  Ovade,  whose 
friendship  they  had  won  ;  but  through  their  carelessness 
the  provisions  thus  obtained  were  accidentally  burned. 
Ovade  again  came  to  their  assistance,  and  assured  them 
that  as  long  as  he  could  aid  them  they  should  not  want. 
He  gave  them  also  some  pearls,  and  silver  ore  which  he 
said  could  be  found  among  the  mountains  toward  the 
north  at  a  distance  of  ten  days'  travel.  The  wealth  of  the 
mountains  of  Northwestern  South  Carolina  and  Western 
North  Carolina,  which  is  just  now  being  opened,  thus  ap- 
pears to  have  been  known  to  the  Indians  at  that  time. 

But  the  greatest  troubles  of  the  garrison  left  by  Ribault 
were  at  hand.  Captain  Albert  was  a  man  of  imperious 
temper  and  rigid  in  the  discipline  which  he  attempted  to 
enforce,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  privations  to  which 
the  soldiers  were  reduced  rendered  them  less  subordinate. 
Albert  grew  more  stern  and  harsh.  A  drummer  was  exe- 
cuted, and  another  of  the  garrison  banished  to  an  island 
three  leagues  from  the  fort.  Upon  this  the  garrison  broke 
into  open  mutiny,  murdered  Albert,  and  bestowed  the  com- 
mand upon  Nicholas  Barrd. 

Despairing  of  the  return  of  Ribault,  the  garrison  began 
to  seek  the  means  of  venturing  upon  the  ocean  in  an 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  47 

attempt  to  return  to  France.  They  had  carpenters  among 
them,  and  a  forge  and  iron  and  tools.  What  they  needed 
most  were  sails  and  cordage.  Resin  they  procured  from 
the  pine,  and  moss  from  the  oak,  with  which  they  calked 
their  vessel.  They  turned  their  shirts  and  sheets  into 
sails,  and  their  Indian  friends  taught  them  to  make  cord- 
age from  the  inner  bark  of  trees.  Unfortunately  while 
taking  their  artillery,  forge,  and  munitions  of  war  in  this 
weak  vessel  they  took  but  a  small  supply  of  food,  though 
they  had  an  abundance  on  hand. 

Sailing  with  a  favorable  wind,  they  had  gone  only  about 
one-third  of  the  distance  across  the  Atlantic,  when  calms 
befell  them.  Their  provisions  were  soon  so  diminished 
that  the  daily  allowance  to  each  man  was  but  twelve 
grains  of  millet.  They  were  soon  compelled  to  eat  their 
shoes  and  leathern  jackets  and  to  drink  the  water  of  the 
sea.  Some  died  of  hunger.  The  boat  leaked  on  all  sides 
and  required  constant  bailing.  A  storm  arose  and  injured 
their  frail  vessel  so  much  that  in  their  despair  they  ceased 
their  exertions  and  laid  them  down  to  die.  Then,  inspired 
with  hopes  by  one  more  courageous  than  the  rest,  they 
agreed  that  one  should  die  that  the  rest  might  live. 
Lots  were  cast,  and  it  fell  to  Lachere,  the  man  Captain 
Albert  had  banished  and  whose  life  his  comrades  had 
saved,  now  to  die  for  them.  He  willingly  gave  back  this 
boon  to  his  starving  friends.  Soon  after  this  they  met 
an  English  vessel  and  were  carried  to  England. 

As  soon  as  peace  was  partially  restored  in  France,  the 
Calvinists  having  secured  the  freedom  of  worship  in  the 
towns  they  held,  Coligny  revived  his  project  of  coloniza- 
tion, and  Laudoniere  was  dispatched  in  command  of  three 
ships,  and  reached  America  in  June,  1564.  He  must  have 
received  information  of  the  abandonment  of  Fort  Charles, 
for  he  did  not  visit  it  again,  but  proceeded  to  Florida, 


48  HISTORY  OF  SOtTTH  CAROLINA 

where  he  built  a  fort  on  the  May  River,  which  he  named 
Fort  Caroline. 

This  fort  was  afterwards,  while  under  the  command  of 
Ribault,  who  had  returned  and  superseded  Laudoniere, 
destroyed  by  the  Spaniards  from  St.  Augustine,  under 
Menendez,  and  the  garrison  massacred.  The  story  is 
told  that  beneath  the  tree  on  whose  branches  Menendez 
hung  his  French  prisoners  was  placed  an  inscription,  "  I 
do  not  this  as  to  Frenchmen  ;  but  as  to  heretics."  This 
was  avenged  by  the  Chevalier  de  Gourges,  who  sailed  from 
France  with  an  expedition  raised  at  his  own  expense  for 
the  purpose,  and  hanging  the  Spaniards  to  the  same  trees, 
altered  the  inscription  to  read,  "  I  did  not  do  this  as  to 
Spaniards  nor  as  to  infidels  ;  but  as  to  traitors,  thieves,  and 
murderers." 

Thus  ended  the  first  attempt  to  establish  a  colony  of 
Huguenots  in  what  is  now  Carolina  ;  but  these  simple 
yet  heroic  people  were  again  to  come  and  to  impress  their 
gentle  manners,  their  gallantry,  their  frugality,  and  above 
all  their  religious  tone  upon  those  with  whom  they  were 
to  form  the  people  of  South  Carolina. 

The  attempted  settlement  at  Fort  Royal  forms  an  epi- 
sode in  the  history  of  the  territory.  It  gave  to  the  whole 
region  the  name  of  Carolina  in  honor  of  Charles  IX  of 
France,  and  to  the  river  on  which  it  was  planted,  that 
of  Port  Royal.  These  names  are  all  that  remain  of 
Ribault's  enterprise.  And  except  these  names,  and  per- 
haps some  tradition  which  may  still  have  existed  among  the 
Indians  when  the  English  colonists  arrived  in  the  century 
after,  and  which  may  have  influenced  their  conduct  to  the 
new  adventurers  for  good  or  evil,  it  left  no  impression 
whatever  upon  tlie  history  which  follows. 

No  other  settlement  was  effected  in  Carolina  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years  after  the  abandonment  of  the  French 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  49 

colony  at  Port  Royal.  In  the  meanwhile  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh's  attempted  colonies  on  the  Roanoke  in  1585  and 
1587  had  likewise  ended  disastrously ;  but  later  English 
colonies  had  been  successfully  planted  in  Virginia  in  1607  ; 
in  Massachusetts  in  1620 ;  the  New  Netherland  Com- 
pany had  been  formally  established  on  the  Hudson  in 
1614,  another  settlement  by  the  Dutch  at  Bergen  opposite 
New  York  in  1617,  permanent  settlements  in  Connecticut 
by  the  same  people  in  1633,  and  on  the  Delaware  in  1639  ; 
Lord  Baltimore's  emigrants  had  settled  at  St.  Mary's  in 
1634.  Companies  from  Massachusetts  had  spread  them- 
selves into  Connecticut  in  1634-36,  and  into  Rhode  Island 
in  1636-39. 

Attention  has  recently  been  called  to  the  historical  fact 
that  as  early  as  the  10th  of  February,  1629,  French  Prot- 
estant refugees  in  England  were  in  communication  with 
Charles  I  for  planting  a  colony  in  what  is  now  South 
Carolina ;  and  that  the  patent  issued  to  Sir  Robert  Heath 
as  sole  proprietor  of  this  extensive  region  grew  out  of  the 
proposals  of  Soubise,  Due  de  Fontenay,  representing 
French  refugees  in  England,  and  of  Antoine  de  Ridonet, 
Baron  de  Sance,  his  secretary ;  and  that  in  1630  a  colony 
of  French  Protestants  actually  sailed  for  Carolina  in  the 
ship  Mayflower.  Could  it  have  been,  it  is  asked,  the  same 
vessel  that  carried  the  Puritans  to  Plymouth  Rock  ?  From 
some  unexplained  cause  these  Huguenots  were  landed  in 
Virginia,  for  which  miscarriage  the  owners  of  the  vessel 
were  made  to  pay  .£600  damages.^ 

In  1630  a  grant  was  made  by  King  Charles  I  to  Robert 
Heath  of  all  the  territory  known  as  Carolina ;  but  no 
colony  was  established  under  it.     The  first  English  colony 


1  Hon.  William  A.  Courtenay.    In  Memoriam,  Daniel  Ravenel.    See 
also  Coll  Hist.  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  199,  200. 

E 


50  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLti^A 

planted  in  what  is  now  South  Carolina  was  that  sent  out 
under  the  charters  of  1663-65  of  Charles  II. 

The  Spaniards  claimed  Florida,  the  northern  limits  of 
which  were  undefined,  and  Menendez,  who  had  destroyed 
Fort  Caroline  and  massacred  its  garrison,  had  in  lS65 
laid  the  foundation  of  St.  Augustine  and  built  the  fort  of 
San  Mateo,  which  was  so  long  to  be  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
the  Carolina  colonists. 

As  Rivers  observes,  notwithstanding  the  favorable  de- 
scription which  Verrazzano  had  given  of  our  climate  and 
country,  and  Ribault's  account  of  the  beautiful  and  com- 
modious harbor  of  Port  Royal,  a  prejudice  had  arisen  in 
favor  of  the  more  northern  situations.  But  the  success 
and  prosperity  of  the  colonies  already  established  had 
awakened  great  interest  in  the  mother  countrj^,  and  the 
vast  and  unexplored  territory  known  as  Carolina  lying 
between  Virginia  admittedly  under  the  domain  of  Great 
Britain,  and  Florida  equally  recognized  as  belonging  to 
Spain,  with  its  undefined  boundaries,  could  not  be 
allowed  by  his  Majesty  the  King  of  England  to  remain 
unclaimed  and  unoccupied.  So  in  the  second  year  after 
the  restoration,  Charles  II  readily  granted  to  some  of  his 
adherents  and  courtiers  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  dis- 
tinguished services,  and  who  claimed  to  be  excited  "  with 
a  laudable  and  pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Chris- 
tian Faith  and  the  Enlargement  of  our  Empire  and  Domin- 
ions^^^  a  charter  with  extensive  powers,  for  all  the  region 
lying  south  of  Virginia  extending  from  31°  to  36°  north 
latitude,  and  westward  within  these  parallels  across  the 
Continent,  which  was  to  be  called  Carolina,  as  it  was  now 
said,  in  honor  of  his  Majesty,  the  said  Charles  II  of 
England. 


CHAPTER   II 

European  governments  claimed  their  several  posses- 
sions in  America  by  right  of  discovery,  by  occupancy, 
by  conquest,  and  by  treaties  with  the  Indians.  It  was 
deemed  a  sufficient  ground  for  a  king,  upon  which  to  base 
a  claim,  that  a  subject  had  sailed  along  a  coast,  and  perhaps 
landed  a  boat's  crew  and  proclaimed  possession,  and  this 
to  warrant  the  grant  of  lands  beyond  the  shore,  the  nature 
and  extent  of  which  were  entirely  unknown.  A  foothold 
once  obtained,  dominion  was  asserted  by  occupancy  over 
so  much  at  least  as  the  number  of  the  colony  enabled  them 
securely  to  hold.  Then  followed  in  some  instances  so- 
called  treaties  —  bargains  by  which  for  a  few  trinkets  the 
natives  were  held  to  have  ceded  whatever  right  in  the 
soil  they  may  have  had ;  or  else  upon  some  pretext  of 
wrong,  war  was  declared,  the  natives  driven  away  or 
slaughtered,  and  title  claimed  by  right  of  conquest. 

England  claimed  her  possessions  as  conquered  or  ceded 
territory,  in  which  it  was  held  that  the  King  might  make, 
alter,  and  change  the  law  at  will ;  and  that  the  common 
law  therefore  had  no  allowance  or  authority  in  them,  they 
being  no  part  of  the  mother  country,  but  distinct  though 
dependent  dominions.  They  were  subject,  however,  to 
the  control  of  the  Parliament,  though  not  bound  by  any 
act  unless  particularly  named.  ^ 

1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  108 ;  Jacob's  Law  Dictionary,  title 
"Plantation,"  vol.  V,  160.  See  the  discussion  of  the  doctrine  in  the 
U.  S.  Senate  by  Calhoun  and  Webster  on  the  proposition  to  establish 
territorial  government  in  New  Mexico  and  California,  February  24,  1849. 

61 


52  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

The  governments  of  the  English  Plantations  or  Colo- 
nies in  America  were  of  three  sorts. 

1.  Royal  or  Provincial  establishments,  the  constitution 
of  which  depended  on  the  respective  commissions  issued 
by  the  crown  to  the  governors  and  the  instructions  which 
usually  accompanied  their  commissions ;  under  the  author- 
ity of  which  provincial  assemblies  were  constituted  with 
the  power  of  making  local  ordinances  not  repugnant  to 
the  laws  of  England. 

2.  Proprietary  governments,  granted  out  by  the  crown 
to  individuals  in  the  nature  of  feudatory  principalities 
with  all  the  inferior  regalities  and  subordinate  power  of 
legislation  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  owners  of 
counties  palatine ;  yet  still  with  these  express  conditions, 
that  the  ends  for  which  the  grant  was  made  be  substan- 
tially pursued  and  that  nothing  be  attempted  which  might 
derogate  from  the  sovereignty  of  the  mother  country. 

3.  Charter  governments,  in  the  nature  of  civil  corpora- 
tions with  the  power  of  making  by-laws  for  their  own 
interior  regulation  not  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England ; 
and  with  such  rights  and  authorities  as  are  specially  given 
them  in  their  several  charters  of  incorporation.^ 

This  is  the  order  in  which  Blackstone  stated  the  three 
forms  of  colonial  government  of  England ;  but  chrono- 
logically the  reverse  is  the  order  in  which  they  were 
established.  In  June,  1579,  Queen  Elizabeth  issued  letters 
patent  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  authorizing  him  to  dis- 
cover, occupy,  and  possess  such  remote  "heathen  lands 
not  actually  possessed  of  any  Christian  prince  or  people 
as  should  seem  good  to  him  or  them  " ;  but  although  he 
disposed  of  his  patrimony  and  all  he  possessed  in  fitting 
out  a  fleet  to  avail  himself  of  this  gracious  permission  of 
his  Queen,  the  enterprise  failed.  The  first  step  in  the 
1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  107-109. 


UNDER  THE  PKOPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      53 

work  of  English  colonization  of  America  was  the  grant, 
six  years  after  the  permission  given  to  Gilbert,  to  his  half- 
brotlier,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  This  grant  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  charter.     It  gave  to  him 

"  and  to  his  heires  and  assigns  for  euer  free  libertie  and  licence  from 
time  to  time  and  all  times  for  euer  hereafter  to  discouer,  search  finde 
out  and  view  such  remote  heathen  and  barbarous  lands  countreis 
and  territories  not  actually  possessed  of  any  Christian  Prince  nor 
inhabited  by  Christian  people,"  ect. 

The  people  in  those  remote  lands  he  was  given  power 
and  authority  to  correct,  punish,  pardon,  govern,  and 
rule, 

"  according  to  such  statutes,  lawes,  and  ordinaces  as  shall  bee  by  him 
the  saide  Walter  Raleigh  his  heires  and  assignes  and  euery  or  any  of 
them  deuised  or  established  for  the  better  governement  of  the  said 
people  as  aforesaid."  . 

Then  follows  a  proviso  which  in  some  form  is  found  in 
all  the  subsequent  charters :  — 

"  So  always  as  the  said  statutes  lawes  and  ordinance  may  be  as 
neere  as  conveniently  may  be  agreeable  to  the  forme  of  the  lawes 
statutes  government  or  policie  of  England  and  also  so  as  they  be  not 
against  the  true  Christian  faith  nowe  professed  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, nor  in  any  wise  to  withdrawe  any  of  the  subjects  or  people 
of  those  landes  or  places  from  the  allegiance  of  vs  our  heires  and  suc- 
cessours  as  their  immediate  soueraigne  vnder  God."  ^ 

Under  this  charter  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  dispatched  five 
fleets  in  succession  in  the  years  1585  to  1587,  and  planted 
three  small  colonies  on  the  coast  of  what  is  now  North 
Carolina,  which  disappeared  one  after  the  other  and  left 
no  trace. 

No  permanent  English  settlement  was  effected  in  what 
now  constitutes  the  United  States  till  the  reign  of 
James  I.     In  1606   a  charter  was  given  by  the  monarch 

1  Charters  and  Constitutions —  The  United  /States  (Poore),  2  vol.,  1379- 
1381. 


54  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

to  Thomas  Gates  and  his  associates,  certain  knights, 
gentlemen,  merchants,  and  other  adventurers,  who  were 
to  divide  themselves  into  two  several  colonies.  Those 
from  the  city  of  London  were  to  begin  their  plantations 
at  some  convenient  place  on  the  coast  of  Virginia;  those 
from  the  cities  of  Bristol  and  Exeter  and  the  town  of 
Plymouth,  at  some  convenient  place  on  the  coast  of  New 
England.  1  Under  the  charter  the  dominion  of  Virginia 
was  founded  in  1607,  and  the  New  England  colonies  in 
1620.  That  of  Virginia  and  those  of  the  New  England 
colonies  subsequently  established  were  the  charter  gov- 
ernments mentioned  by  Blackstone,  —  civil  corporations 
with  power  of  making  laws  for  their  own  interior  regula- 
tions subject  to  the  restriction  of  the  charters. 

The  first  British  colonies  in  America  were  thus  estab- 
lished under  charter  governments.  Then  followed  a 
series  of  Proprietary  grants.  The  first  of  these  was  of 
the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  which  was  granted  to  the  Earl 
of  Marlborough  by  James  I,  —  a  grant  which  was,  how- 
ever, disregarded  by  his  successor,  Charles  I,  who,  upon 
ascending  the  throne,  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  a 
charter  of  all  the  Caribbee  Islands,  including  in  the 
enumeration  of  them  that  of  Barbadoes.  This  celebrated 
charter,  which  formed  the  precedent  of  all  the  Proprietary 
charters  afterwards  issued,  was  dated  2d  of  June,  1629.^ 

The  next  Proprietary  charter  was  that  by  the  same 
monarch  in  1630  of  Carolina  or  Carolana  to  Sir .  Robert 
Heath.  This  grant  covered  all  the  region  lying  south 
of  Virginia,  extending  from  31°  to  36°  of  north  latitude 
and  westward  within  these  parallels  across  the  Continent 

1  Charters  and  Constitutions  —  The  United  States  (Poore),  2  vol., 
1888. 

2  Edward's  Hist,  of  West  Indies,  1,  323 ;  Foyer's  Hist.  Barbadoes, 
6-11. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      55 

from  ocean  to  ocean. ^  Dr.  Daniel  Coxe  of  New  Jersey, 
who  claimed  this  patent  through  various  assignments, 
and  who  wrote  in  1721  a  description  of  the  territory 
claimed  under  the  grant,  observes  that  "  Carolana  and 
Carolina  are  two  distinct  tho'  bordering  Provinces,  the 
east  of  Carolana  joyning  to  the  west  of  Carolina,''  The 
former,  he  states,  "  was  granted  by  Patent  unto  Sir  Robert 
Heath  in  the  Beginning  of  the  reign  of  King  Charles  I 
which  said  Sir  Robert  was  the  attorney  general,  and  by 
him  convey'd  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel  from  whom  it  came 
by  mean  conveyances  unto  the  present  Proprietary ."  ^ 
This  admission  by  Coxe,  who  was  claiming  under  the 
Heath  grant  that  the  eastern  boundary  of  Carolana  was 
the  western  boundary  of  Carolina,  was  induced  doubtless 
to  avoid  conflict  with  the  colonies  established  under  the 
subsequent  grants  of  1663  and  1665,  which  covered  the 
same  territory,  and  under  which  the  Proprietors  had  then 
occupied  and  held  for  fifty  years.  The  grant  to  Heath, 
however,  distinctly  ran  to  "  the  ocean  on  the  East."  The 
claims  to  the  province  of  "Carolana"  continued  to  be 
prosecuted,  but  limited  in  this  way  to  the  country 
west  of  the  settled  portion  of  Carolina,  and  embracing  the 
Mississippi.  Upon  the  issue  of  the  first  charter  of  Caro- 
lina by  Charles  II  the  Heath  patent  was  by  order  of  coun- 
cil, August  12,  1663,  declared  void  because  of  failure  to 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  6;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  64. 

2  A  Description  of  the  English  Province  of  Carolana,  by  Daniel  Coxe, 
1721.    For  abstract  of  title  see  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  519. 

Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  70.  Dr.  Daniel  Coxe  was  physician 
to  the  queen  of  Charles  II,  and  also  to  Queen  Anne.  He  was  the  ancestor 
of  Tench  Coxe  of  Philadelphia,  the  statesman  and  economist,  sometimes 
called  the  father  of  the  growth  of  American  cotton.  Dr.  Coxe  was  also 
the  principal  proprietor  of  West  Jersey.  "The  Southern  States,"  De 
Bows'  Bevieio. 


56  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

fulfil  its  conditions,  there  having  been  under  it  but  a 
few  feeble  and  unsuccessful  attempts  at  colonization. ^ 
Then  followed  the  grant  of  the  charter  of  Maryland  to 
Lord  Baltimore,  June  20,  1632  ;  ^  and  of  Maine  to  Sir 
P'erdinando  Gorges,  April  3,  1639. ^ 

There  were  no  charters  granted  during  the  existence  of 
the  Commonwealth  in  England.  Upon  thu^^estoration, 
Charles  II  rpKarded  his  supporters,  theJEarlMi  (23g.rendon^ 
the  jytify  ofcA^lbemaite  Lor(i?Craven,  Loi^ifterkeley, 
Lord  'A^iiley^'^  Geol^  Carteret,  Sir  Wilii^  Berkeley, 
and  Sir  John^oUeton,  by  a  patent  dated  March  24,  1663, 
granting  them  t^e  province  of  Carolina.f  The  next  year 
he  issued  a  patent  to  his  brother,' the  Duke  of  York,  after- 
wards James  II,  giving  him  the  province  of  Maine  and  all 
the  lands  and  rivers  from  the  west  of  the  Connecticut  River 
to  the  east  side  of  Delaware  Bay,  i.e.  the  States  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey;^  and  immediately  dispatched  a 
fleet  to  wrest  those  lands  from  the  Dutch,  who  had  pos- 
sessed them  under  the  name  of  the  New  Netherlands. 
Later,  i.e.  in  1681,  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  was 
granted  to  William  Penn,  and  so  named  in  honor  of  Ad- 
miral Penn,  his  father,  whose  advances  of  money  and 
services  were  thus  requited.^ 

1  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann. ;  Carroll's  Collections,Yo\.  II, 278 ;  Hist.  Sketches 
of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  64.  The  King  and  Council  declared  Heath's  charter 
void;  but  as  it  had  not  been  legally  so  adjudged,  Coxe's  descendants 
obtained  a  recognition  of  their  rights  from  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 
received  from  the  Crown  in  1768,  in  lieu  of  their  claim  to  Carolina, 
100,000  acres  of  land  in  the  interior  of  Newr  York.  See  Government  of 
the  Colony  of  So.  Ca.  (Whitney)  ;  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies, 
13  series,  l-U,  24. 

2  Charters  and  Constitutions —  The  United  States  (Poore),  vol.  I,  811. 
«76iV?.,  774. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  II,  1352  ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  22. 
^  Charters  and  Constitutions,  vol.  I,  783. 
»  Ibid.,  1609. 


UNDER    THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  57 

As  Virginia  was  the  first  instance  of  a  charter  govern- 
ment, so  it  was  the  first  of  a  Royal  government.  The 
charter  of  the  famous  London  Company  having  been  de- 
clared forfeited  by  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  upon  a 
writ  of  quo  warranto  in  1624,  a  Royal  government  was  set 
up  in  its  stead.  The  Island  of  Jamaica  had  been  taken 
by  the  British  from  the  Spaniards  during  Cromwell's  rule. 
Upon  the  Restoration,  Charles  II,  to  conciliate  the  affec- 
tions of  the  colonists  whose  valor  had  annexed  so  impor- 
tant an  appendage  to  his  dominions,  appointed  as  Governor 
of  the  island  General  .D'Oyley,  to  whose  exertions  the 
possession  of  Jamaica  was  chiefly  owing.  His  commission 
was  dated  13  February,  1661.  By  his  instructions  he  was 
to  release  the  island  from  military  subordination,  to  erect 
courts  of  judicature,  and  with  the  advice  of  a  council,  to 
be  elected  by  the  inhabitants,  to  pass  laws  suitable  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  colony. ^ 

The  establishment  of  a  Royal  government  in  Jamaica 
was  hailed  as  a  blessing  by  the  people  of  that  island ;  but 
far  otherwise  was  it  regarded  when,  in  1663,  such  a  gov- 
ernment was  set  up  in  Barbadoes.  As  this  event  was  not 
without  considerable  influence  upon  the  colony  of  Caro- 
lina, we  shall  have  occasion  to  relate  somewhat  in  detail 
the  circumstances  which  brought  it  about.  For  the  pres- 
ent it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  at  the  time  of  the 
founding  of  the  province  of  Carolina  the  three  existing 
Provincial  or  Royal  governments  were  those  of  Virginia, 
Jamaica,  and  Barbadoes. 

The  Proprietary  charter  of  Maryland  is  usually  referred 
to  as  the  model  of  that  of  Carolina ;  ^  but  both  of  these, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  patent  of  Charles  I  to  the  Earl  of 

1  Edwards's  Hist,  of  West  Indies,  vol.  I,  171. 

2  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann. ;  Carroll,  281 ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ga. 
(Rivers),  79. 


58  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Carlisle  for  the  Caribbee  Islands,  are  based  upon  that  of 
Sir  Robert  Heath  of  Carolana  ;  which  in  its  turn  followed, 
but  enlarged  upon,  that  of  the  Earl  of  Marlborough  and 
that  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  This  last,  the  patent  to 
Raleigh,  which  was  the  first  of  all  the  charters,  we  recol- 
lect authorized  and  empowered  Raleigh,  his  heirs  and 
assigns,  to  govern  and  rule  by  such  statutes,  laws,  and 
ordinances  as  he  should  devise,  provided  always  that  such 
statutes,  laws,  and  ordinances  should  be  as  near  as  con- 
veniently might  be  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  England. 
Sir  Robert  was  empowered  in  his  government  to  do  like- 
wise, but  very  important  additions  and  restrictions  were 
made  to  the  terms  of  his  grant,  and  these  were  followed  in 
all  subsequent  patents. 

"Whereas,"  declared  his  Majesty,  "our  beloved  and  faithful! 
subject  and  servant  Sir  Robert  Heath,  Knight,  our  attorney  Generall, 
kindled  with  a  certaine  laudable  and  pious  desire  as  well  of  enlarging 
the  Christian  religion  as  our  Empire  &  encreasing  the  Trade  &  Com- 
merce of  this  our  kingdom,"  etc.,  "  we  have  therefore  granted  to  Sir 
Robert  the  territory  described ;  And  furthermore  the  patronages 
and  advowsons  of  all  churches  which  shall  happen  to  be  built  hereafter 
in  the  said  Region  Territory  &  Isles  and  limitts  by  the  increase  of 
the  religion  &  worship  of  Christ.  Together  with  all  &  singular  these 
&  these  soe  amply  Rights  Jurisdictions  privileges  prerogatives 
Royaltyes  libertyes  immunityes  with  Royal  rights  &  franchises 
whatsoever  as  well  by  sea  as  by  land  within  that  Region  Territory 
Isles  &  limitts  aforesaid  To  have  exercise  use  &  enjoy  in  like  man- 
ner as  any  Bishop  of  Durham  within  the  Bp''^^^^  or  County  Palatine 
of  Durham  in  our  kingdome  of  England  ever  heretofore  had  held 
used  or  enjoyed  or  of  right  ought  or  could  have  hold  use  or  enjoy. 
And  by  these  presents  we  make  create  &  constitute  the  same  S'  Rob- 
ert Heath  his  heires  &  assignes  true  and  absolute  Lords  &  Proprietors 
of  the  Region  &  Territory  aforesaid  &  all  other  the  premises  for  us 
our  heires  &  successors  saveing  alwaies  the  faith  &  Allegiance  due  to 
us  our  heires  &  successors,"  etc.^ 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  5, 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNM 


The  province  granted  was  thus  constituted  a  County 
Palatine  with  Sir  Robert  Heath,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  as 
Lords  Proprietors.  To  understand,  therefore,  the  nature 
of  this  grant,  we  must  go  back  to  the  County  Palatine  in 
England.  They  were  three  of  these,  —  Chester,  Durham 
and  Lancaster.  Counties  Palatine  are  so  called,  a  palatio,^ 
says  Blackstone,  because  the  owners  thereof,  the  Earl  of 
Chester,  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  the  Duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, had  in  these  counties  jura  regalia  as  fully  as  the  King 
hath  in  his  palace  regalem  potestatem  in  omnibus  as  Brac- 
ton  expresses  it.  They  might  pardon  treasons,  murders, 
and  felonies,  they  appointed  all  judges  and  justices  of  the 
peace,  all  writs  and  indictments  ran  in  their  names  as  in 
other  counties  in  the  King's  name,  and  all  offences  were 
said  to  be  done  against  their  peace,  and  not,  as  in  other 
places,  contra  pacem  domini  regis.  These  palatine  privi- 
leges were  in  all  probability,  observes  this  author,  origi- 
nally granted  to  the  counties  of  Chester  and  Durham 
because  they  bordered  upon  inimical  countries,  Wales  and 
Scotland,  in  order  that  the  inhabitants  having  justice 
administered  at  home  might  not  be  obliged  to  go  out  of 
the  county  and  leave  it  open  to  the  enemy's  incursions ; 
and  that  the  owners  being  encouraged  by  so  large  an 
authority  might  be  the  more  watchful  in  its  defence. ^ 

Of  the  three,  the  County  of  Durham  was  the  only  pala- 
tine remaining  when  King  Charles  made  his  grant  to  Sir 
Robert  Heath  —  and  upon  that  model  was  the  proposed 
government  of  Carolana.  It  was  to  be  a  viceregal  one. 
But     other    important    qualifications     were     prescribed. 

1  The  term  "Palatine,"  from  Comes  Palatii,  count' of  the  palace,  is  a 
title  formerly  given  to  some  great  dignitary  of  the  Royal  household.  It 
thus  became  the  title  of  a  governor  of  some  local  district  with  the 
authority  and  privileges  of  Vice  Royalty  ;  in  England  the  County  of 
Durham  is  a  County  Palatine.     1  Statutes,  42. 

2  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  117. 


60  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Raleigh  had  been  empowered  to  make  such  statutes,  laws, 
and  ordinances  as  he  deemed  best;  Heath's  power  was 
encumbered  with  a  proviso.  His  laws  must  receive  the 
assent  of  the  people.     He  was  empowered 

"to  forme,  make,  &  enact,  &  publish  .  .  .  what  lawes  souer  may 
concerne  the  publicke  state  of  the  said  province  or  the  private  profitt 
of  all  according  to  the  wholesome  directions  of  &  with  the  counsell 
assent  ^  approbation  of  the  Freeholders  of  the  same  Province  or  the 
Major  part  of  them  who  when  ^  as  often  as  need  shall  require  shall  by 
the  aforesaid  S""  Robert  Heath  his  Heires  Sf  Assignes  Sf  in  that  forme 
which  to  him  or  them  shall  seem  best,  be  called  together  to  make  lawes  & 
those  to  be  for  all  men  within  the  said  Province,"  ect.^ 

To  this,  however,  was  added  another  proviso  found  also 
in  subsequent  charters,  which  enabled  the  Proprietors 
upon  emergencies  to  dispense  with  the  advice  of  the 
freemen. 

"  And  because  in  the  government  of  soe  great  a  Province  sudden 
chances  many  times  happen  to  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  apply  a 
remedy  before  that  the  Freeholders  of  the  sayd  province  can  be  called 
together  to  make  lawes,  neither  will  it  be  convenient  upon  a  continued 
title  in  an  emergent  occassion  to  gather  together  soe  great  a  people 
therefore."  Sir  Robert  and  his  heirs  and  assigns  it  was  declared, 
"  shall  &  may  have  power  from  time  to  time  to  make  &  constitute 
wholesome  and  convenient  Ordinances  within  the  Province  aforesaid 
.  .  .  which  Ordinances  we  will  that  they  be  inviolably  observed 
within  the  sayd  Province  under  the  paines  expressed  in  them,  soe  as 
the  sayd  Ordinances  be  consonant  to  Reason  &  not  repugnant  nor 
contrary  but  (as  conveniently  may  be  done)  consonant  to  the  laws, 
statutes,  &  rights  of  our  Realme  of  England  as  is  aforesaid  soe  alsoe 
that  the  same  Ordinances  extend  not  themselves  against  the  right  or 
interest  of  any  person  or  persons  or  to  distrayne,  bind  or  burden  in 
or  upon  his  freehold  goods  or  chattels  or  to  be  received  anywhere 
than  in  the  same  Province  or  the  Isles  aforesay'd."  ^ 

There  was  also  this  peculiar  provision  which  was  fol- 
lowed in  the  charters  of  Maryland  and  Carolina:  — 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  8. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  I,  8,  9. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  61 

"  Furthermore  least  the  way  to  Honours  &  Dignityes  may  seem  to 
be  shutt  &  altogether  barr'd  up  to  men  honestly  borne  &  are  willing 
to  undertake  this  present  expedition  &  are  desirous  in  soe  remote  and 
far  distant  a  Region  to  deserve  well  of  us  &  of  our  kingdomes  in 
peace  &  warre  for  that  doe  for  ourselves  our  heires  &  successors  give 
full  &  free  power  to  the  forsayd  S'-  Robert  Heath,  Knight,  his  heires 
&  assigries  to  confere  favours,  graces  &  honours  upon  those  well  deserv- 
ing citizens  that  inhabit  within  the  forsayd  province  &  the  same  with 
whatever  titles  &  dignityes  (provided  they  be  not  the  same  as  are 
now  used  in  England)  to  adorne  at  his  pleasure,"  ^  etc. 

With  these  precedents  before  him,  Charles  II  proceeded 
to  reward  the  friends  who  had  stood  by  him  in  his  adver- 
sity.    It  is  well  to  recall  who  these  were. 

The  Earl  of  Clarendon  had  been  his  companion  and 
counsellor,  in  exile,  and  after  Cromwell's  death  had  mate- 
rially contributed  to  the  reestablishment  of  the  monarchy. 
His  daughter  was  subsequently  married  to  the  Duke  of 
York,  afterwards  James  II,  and  their  children  Mary  and 
Anne  became  Queens  of  England.  The  history  of  this  great 
man  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  extended  notice  here. 

George,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  Master  of  the  Horse,  and 
Captain  General  of  the  Forces,  was  the  famous  General 
George  Monk.  No  single  person  deserved  more  the  title 
of  the  Restorer  of  the  King,  than  he.  His  history  is  also 
well  known. 

William,  Earl  Craven,  was  an  elderly  man  who  had  been 
distinguished  in  love  and  war  thirty  years  before,  who 
had  led  the  forlorn  hope  at  Crentznach  with  such  courage 
that  he  had  been  patted  on  the  shoulder  by  the  great 
Gustavus,  and  who  was  believed  to  have  won  from  a 
thousand  rivals  the  heart  of  the  unfortunate  Queen  of 
Bohemia.2  He  had  been  elevated  to  the  peerage  by 
Charles  I,  and  having  afterwards  during  the  civil  wars 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  11. 

2  Macaulay's  Hist,  of  England,  IV,  42. 


62  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

zealously  and  ably  espoused  the  Royal  cause,  had  been, 
upon  the  Restoration,  created  Earl.i  Yot  twenty  odd 
years  more,  he  was  to  serve  the  Stuarts  and  to  be  last  to 
stand  by  that  family.  He  was  to  survive  all  the  other 
grantees, 

John,  Lord  Berkeley,  like  Craven,  had  long  been  in  the 
service  of  the  Royal  family.  He  had  been  knighted  in 
1638,  by  Charles  I,  and  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion,  had  been  one  of  those  very  good  officers  (as 
Lord  Clarendon  calls  them)  who  were  ordered  to  form 
an  army  in  the  west.  In  the  King's  service  he  had 
achieved  great  successes.  He  had  stood  so  high  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Queen,  that  her  Majesty  had  selected 
the  city  of  Exeter  under  his  protection  as  the  birthplace  of 
the  Princess  Henrietta  Maria  ;  and  had  especially  recom- 
mended '''Jack  Berkeley"  to  the  favor  of  her  Royal 
husband.  He  had  been  employed  in  the  endeavor  to 
negotiate  terms  for  the  unfortunate  Charles.  During  the 
Commonwealth,  Sir  John  remained  in  exile  with  the 
Royal  family.  Upon  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy 
his  Lordship  was  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council. ^ 

Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  Lord  Ashley  (after  whom  the 
Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers  have  been  named},  had  been 
particularly  recommended  to  Charles  II  by  General 
Monk,  as  a  person  well  fitted  to  be  one  of  his  council. 
Although  regarded  as  a  politician  who  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  monarchy,  then  of  the  Parliament,  and  then  of 
monarchy,  as  it  suited  his  ambition,  yet  he  long  retained 
the  favor  and  confidence  of  the  King,  and  by  his  distin- 
guished abilities  became  Chancellor  of  England,  and  was 
made  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.  He  was  again  to  forfeit  the 
Royal  confidence,  and  to  die  in  exile.  He  was  the  con- 
stant friend  and  patron  of  the  philosopher  Locke,  to  whom 
1  Burke*8  Peerage.  2  7^^-^, 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      68 

was  committed  the  framing  of  the  fundamental  laws  for 
the  government  of  Carolina.  This  nobleman  was  most 
influential  in  the  early  policy  of  Carolina. 

Sir  George  Carteret  had  been  a  naval  officer  of  the 
highest  reputation  and  of  great  influence.  He  had 
retired  from  the  navy,  and  withdrawn  with  his  family 
to  Jersey,  but  returned  to  the  aid  of  the  Royalists,  and 
was  made  a  baronet  by  King  Charles,  May  9,  1645.  He 
was  Governor  of  Jersey  when  ruin  befell  the  Royal  cause, 
and  aiforded  there  an  asylum  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the 
Earl  of  Clarendon,  and  other  refugees.  He  afterwards 
defended  the  island  in  the  most  gallant  manner  against 
the  Parliamentarians,  and  surrendered  ultimately  only 
upon  receiving  the  command  of  King  Charles  II  so  to  do. 
Elizabeth  Castle,  in  the  Island  of  Jersey,  was  the  last 
fortress  that  lowered  the  Royal  banner.  He  was  also  of 
the  Privy  Council.^ 
j^  TS-  Sir  John   Colleton  had  been  a  captain  of  foot  and  a 

-TiTost  active  partisan  of  royalty  in  the  beginning  of  the 

civil  wars.  Receiving  from  Lord  Berkeley  a  colonel's 
commission  to  raise  a  regiment  for  his  army  in  the  west, 
he  succeeded  in  doing  so  in  'ten  days,  and  expended  for 
the  King's  service  £40,000  besides  losing  considerably 
more  than  that  sum  by  sequestration.  After  the  success 
of  the  parliamentary  forces  he  retired  to  Barbadoes.  There 
he  still  maintained  the  Royal  cause,  and  upon  the  Restora- 
tion, with  twelve  other  gentlemen  of  that  island,  among 
them  Sir  John  Yeamans,  who  with  him  was  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  early  settlement  of  Carolina,  secured 
the  dignity  of  knighthood. ^ 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  brother  of  Lord  Berkeley,  was  for 
many  years  the  able  and  loyal  Governor  of  Virginia.     He 

1  Clarendon's  Hist,  of  the  Bebellion,  vol.  II,  834. 

2  Burke's  Peerage;  Foyer's  Barbadoes,  76. 


64  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

espoused  the  cause  of  Charles  I  against  the  Parliament, 
refused  to  hold  office  under  Cromwell,  and  induced  the 
Colony  boldly  to  adhere  to  Charles  II  as  their  sovereign 
while  he  was  in  exile  and  at  a  time  when  the  power  of 
Parliament  was  supreme.  In  remembrance  of  this  the 
King  is  said  to  have  worn  at  his  coronation  a  robe  of 
/       Virginia  silk.^    ]] 

"TThe  patent  to  these  favorites  of  the  King  began  with 
the  usual  declaration  as  to  the  motives  of  the  grant ;  viz. 
that  the  grantees  were  incited  by  a  laudable  and  pious 
design  of  propagating  the  Christian  religion  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  English  empire  and  dominion. 

To  carry  out  these  pious  and  patriotic  views,  the  gran- 
tees were  given  "all  that  territory,  or  tract  of  ground 
called  Carolina  scituate,  lying,  and  being  within  our  do- 
minions of  America,  extending  from  the  north  end  o£  the 
Island  called  Lucke  Island,  which  lieth  in  the  Southern 
Virginia  seas,  and  within  six  and  thirty  degrees  of  the 
north  latitude  and  to  the  west  as  far  as  the  South  Seas  and 
80  southerly  as  far  as  the  River  Matthias  which  bordereth 
upon  the  coast  of  Florida,  and  within  thirty-one  degrees 
northern  latitude  and  so  west  in  a  direct  line  as  far  as 
the  South  Seas  aforesaid."  ^  This  territory  with  all  that  it 
contained,  the  grantees  were  "to  have,  use,  and  enjoy, 
and  in  as  ample  a  manner  as  any  Bishop  of  Durham  in 
our  kingdom  of  England  ever  heretofore  held  used  or 
enjoyed  or  of  right  or  could,  have,  use  or  enjoy." ^ 

The  province  of  Carolina  was  thus  constituted,  as  its 
predecessor  of   Carolana  had  been,  a  County  Palatine,  and 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  64,  note ;  Cooke's  Virginia,  Am.  Com- 
monwealth  Series,  182-192  ;  Genesis  of  the  United  States  (Alexander 
Brown),  327,  328. 

3  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  22 ;  Colonial  Becords  of  M.  Ca.,  vol.  I, 
102  ;  Charters  and  Constitutions  —  The  United  States^  vol.  II,  1382. 

»  Ibid. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT 

as  Sir  Robert  Heath  had  been,  the  grantees  too  were  con- 
stituted Lords  Proprietors.  Like  him  they  were  author- 
ized to  make  any  law  "  according  to  their  best  discretion 
of  and  with  the  advice  assent  and  approbation  of  the  Free- 
men of  the  said  Province  or  of  the  greater  part  of  them  or  of 
their  delegates  or  deputies^^^  whom  for  the  purpose  of  enact- 
ing laws  the  Lords  Proprietors  should  '-'-from  time  to  time 
assemble  in  such  manner  and  form  as  to  them  should  seem 
best.^^^  This  most  important  provision,  common  also  to 
the  charters  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  and  of  Lord  Baltimore, 
though  subject,  as  we  shall  see,  to  evasion,  saved  the  prov- 
ince of  Carolina  from  the  impositions  of  the  absurd  Fun- 
damental Constitutions  of  Locke.  Like  Sir  Robert  Heath, 
the  grantees  under  this  charter  were  empowered  upon 
sudden  occasions  without  awaiting  the  assent  of  the  free- 
men to  make  orders  and  ordinances  for  the  keeping  of 
peace  and  better  government  of  the  people,  provided  that 
such  ordinances  should  be  reasonable  and  not  repugnant 
to  the  laws  of  England ;  but  strange  to  say,  wliile  the 
Carlisle  patent  forbade  any  such  temporary  law  to  affect 
either  the  liberty  or  the  property  of  the  citizen  without 
the  assent  of  the  freemen  assembled,  and  while  the  Balti- 
more patent  went  further,  and  declared  that  such  laws 
must  not  extend  to  limit,  restrict,  or  do  away  with  the 
right  or  interest  of  any  person  in  limh^  life^  freehold,  or 
chattels,  the  Carolina  charter  protected  neither  life,  limb, 
nor  liberty ;  it  forbade  only  that  such  ordinances  should 
extend  "  to  the  binding,  charging,  or  taking  away  of  the 
right  or  interest  of  any  person  or  persons  in  their  free- 
hold goods  or  chattels  whatsoever."  ^ 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  24  ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I, 
23;  Charters  and  Constitutions  (Poore),  vol.  II,  1384. 

2  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol,  I,  25 ;  Charters  and  Constitutions, 
vol.  II,  1385  ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  25. 

y 


66  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Not  to  encumber  these  pages  with  tracing  further  the 
similarity  in  the  provisions  of  the  three  charters,  we  confine 
ourselves  to  those  of  the  Carolina  patent.  It  was  expressly 
enjoined  that  the  province  of  Carolina  should  be  of  his 
Majesty's  allegiance  and  that  all  subjects  who  should  be 
transported  into  the  province,  and  the  children  born  there, 
should  be  denizens  and  lieges  of  the  Kingdom  of  England. 
License  was  given  the  Proprietors  and  the  colonists  to  trade 
with  the  natives  and  to  transport  into  the  province  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise,  and  all  things  necessary  for  food 
and  clothing  without  let  or  hindrance,  saving  the  customs 
and  duties  due  according  to  the  several  rates  of  the  places 
from  whence  the  same  should  be  transported.  They  were 
also  licensed  to  bring  into  any  of  his  Majesty's  dominions 
certain  specified  articles  :  silks,  wines,  currants,  raisins, 
capers,  wax,  oil,  and  olives,  without  paying  any  custom 
import  or  duty  therefor  for  seven  years  from  the  first 
importation  of  four  tons  of  any  of  the  said  goods ;  and  to 
export  therefrom  custom  free  all  sorts  of  tools  which  should 
be  useful  or  necessary  for  the  planters  there. 

The  Lords  Proprietors  were  authorized  to  establish  ports 
of  entry  and  to  assess  and  impose  customs  and  subsidies 
for  the  goods  imported.  They  were  authorized  to  build 
forts,  castles,  cities,  and  towns,  and  to  appoint  governors, 
magistrates,  sheriffs,  and  other  officers,  civil  and  military ; 
to  grant  charters  of  incorporation  and  erect  markets  and 
marts  and  fairs  and  to  hold  courts  baron.  They  were  given 
power  to  make  war  and  pursue  their  enemies  ;  to  exercise 
martial  law  in  case  of  rebellion,  tumult,  or  sedition.  It 
was  expressly  stipulated  that  the  inhabitants  should  not 
be  compelled  to  appear  or  answer  to  any  suit  or  plaint  in 
any  place  out  of  the  province  other  than  in  England  or 
Wales. 

The  Proprietors  were  granted  the  patronage  and  adyow- 


UJ^DEIt   THE   PROtRtETARY   GOVERNMENT  67 

sons  of  all  churches  and  chapels  which,  as  the  Christian 
religion  should  increase,  might  be  erected,  together  with 
the  license  and  power  to  build  and  found  churches, 
chapels,  and  oratories,  and  to  cause  them  to  be  dedi- 
cated and  consecrated  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws 
of  England.  These  powers  they  were  to  use  and  enjoy 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Bishop  of  Durham  exercised 
his  in  England. 

The  Churcli  of  England  was  thus  established  in  the 
province :  but  as  in  the  state  of  religious  controversy 
which  prevailed  at  the  time  it  was  expected  that  many 
dissenters  would  seek  the  new  colony  if  liberty  of  con- 
science was  protected,  the  charter  went  on  to  provide  that 
"  because  it  might  happen  that  some  of  the  people  of  the 
Province  could  not  in  their  private  opinions  conform 
to  the  publick  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the 
liturgy  form  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England  or 
take  and  subscribe  the  oaths  and  articles  made  and  estab- 
lished in  that  behalf,"  the  Lords  Proprietors  should  have 
full  liberty  and  authority  to  grant  to  such  persons  "  who 
really  in  their  judgments  and  for  conscience  sake  cannot 
or  shall  not  conform  to  the  said  liturgies  and  ceremonies 
and  take  and  subscribe  the  oaths  and  articles  .  .  .  such 
indulgencies  and  dispensations  as  in  their  discretion  they 
might  see  fit  and  reasonable." 

But  the  feature  for  which  this  charter  is  best  known 
is  that  which  follows  the  charter  of  Sir  Robert  Heath,  and 
is  found  also  in  Lord  Baltimore's  patent.  It  declares  that 
''^  because  many  persons  horn  or  inhabiting  in  the  said  Prov- 
ince for  their  deserts  and  services  may  expect  and  he  capable 
of  marks  of  honour  and  favour  tvhich  in  respect  of  the  great 
distayice  can  not  he  conveniently  conferred  "  by  his  Majesty, 
it  Avas  the  Royal  pleasure  to  give  to  the  proprietors  full 
power  and  authority,  "  to  give  .  .   .  and  confer  upon  such 


68  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  as  they  should  think  to 
merit  the  same,  such  marks  of  favour  and  titles  of  honour 
as  they  should  think  fit  so  as  these  titles  of  honour  be  not 
the  same  as  are  enjoyed  by  or  conferred  upon  any  subjects 
of  this  our  Kingdom  of  England."  ^ 

Such  was  the  first  charter  of  Carolina.  It  attempted 
to  establish  a  miniature  government  like  to  that  of  Eng- 
land, with  the  Lords  Proprietors  representing  the  Royal 
authority  and  possessing  the  viceregal  powers  and  author- 
ities of  a  Palatine  ;  an  aristocracy  to  correspond  with  that 
of  the  mother  country  and  a  House  of  Commons  to  be 
elected  by  the  freemen. 

It  happened  that  just  at  this  time  complications  growing 
originally  out  of  the  claim  of  the  Earl  of  Marlborough  to 
the  Island  of  Barbadoes  as  antecedent  to  the  Carlisle  pat- 
ent, but  afterwards  becoming  involved  in  controversies  fol^ 
lowing  the  civil  war,  and  disasters  by  hurricanes  and  other 
causes,  culminated  in  loss  to  that  colony  but  to  the  great 
assistance  in  the  settlement  of  Carolina.  The  influence 
which  this  Barbadian  element  had  upon  the  settlement  of 
Carolina  renders  a  brief  allusion  to  the  causes  of  this  emi- 
gration interesting,  if  not  necessary,  to  any  historic  account 
of  its  development. 

During  the  first  stages  of  the  civil  war  in  England, 
Barbadoes  had  been  an  asylum  for  both  the  Royalists  and 
the  Parliamentarians  who  sought  to  avoid  the  contest  at 
home,  and  emigration  from  the  mother  country  to  this 
island  during  the  commotions  in  England  was  very  great. 
These  refugees  planted  themselves  without  the  license  of 
any  one,  and  the  Governor  for  the  time  being  granted  lands 
to  all  who  applied  on  receiving  a  gratuity  to  himself. 
The  Royalists  at  this  time  formed  by  far  the  most  consid- 

^  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  28 ;  Charters  and  Constitutions  (Poore), 
vol.  II,  1387  ;  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  29. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      (59 

erable  part  of  the  people  ;  but  the  two  parties  mutually 
agreed  to  avoid  all  political  controversy  and  live  together 
on  terms  of  reciprocal  friendship  and  good  will.  This 
happy  condition  of  things,  however,  could  not  last ;  the 
fierce  strife  at  home  soon  extended  to  the  West  Indies  ; 
Barbadoes  became  the  scene  of  civil  war  and  was  for  a  time 
reduced  by  the  parliamentary  forces.  On  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  Royal  authority  his  Majesty,  as  we  have  said, 
honored  thirteen  gentlemen  of  Barbadoes  with  the  dig- 
nity of  baronetage  for  their  loyalty  and  sufferings  during 
the  civil  Avar.^  Among  these  were  two  whose  names  are 
associated  with  the  early  history  of  Carolina,  —  Sir  John 
Colleton  and  Sir  John  Yeamans.^  Of  Sir  John  Colleton 
we  have  already  spoken.  Sir  John  Yeamans  was  the 
eldest  son  and  heir  of  Robert  Yeamans,  alderman  of 
Bristol,  who  was  imprisoned  and  executed  in  1643  by 
order  of  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  son  of  Lord  Saye,  who  had 
been  appointed  Governor  of  Bristol  by  the  Parliament. 

But  while  conferring  these  empty  titles,  the  King  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  the  planters  who  had  loyally  stood  by  him  in 
the  time  of  his  need  and  whose  estates  were  now  called 
in  question.  The  controversy  in  regard  to  the  conflicting 
claims  of  the  Earls  of  Marlborough  and  Carlisle  was  again 
renewed.  In  vain  the  planters  pleaded  to  his  Majesty 
that  they,  his  loyal  subjects,  had  repaired  to  Barbadoes  as 
to  a  desolate  place  and  had  by  their  industry  obtained  a 
livelihood ;  that  if  they  should  now  be  left  to  ransom  them- 
selves and  compound  for  their  estate,  they  must  leave  the 
country  and  the  plantations  which  yielded  his  Majesty  so 
great  a  revenue.  To  no  such  appeals  did  Charles  the 
Second  ever  listen.  Between  the  several  claimants  there 
was  an  opportunity  for  raising  a  revenue  for  himself,  and 

1  Lecky's  Eighteenth  Centwy,  vol.  II,  23. 

2  Poyer's  Hist,  of  Barbadoes,  76  ;  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  52. 


70  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAEOLINA 

this  became  the  only  aim  of  the  King's  ministers.  A 
permanent  and  irrevocable  revenue  of  four  and  a  half  per 
cent  on  the  produce  of  the  island  was  levied,  to  be  applied 
towards  the  satisfaction  of  the  claims  arising  under  the 
Carlisle  and  Marlborough  patents  and  then  to  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  crown. 

The  planters  of  Barbadoes  were  deeply  offended  at  this 
treatment.  Many  of  them  had  been  obliged  to  quit  their 
native  country  because  of  their  support  of  the  Royal 
cause  ;  yet  in  this  settlement  they  perceived  a  regard  for 
every  interest  concerned  but  their  own. 

While  the  Parliamentarians  had  been  in  the  ascendant, 
they  had  passed  the  famous  act  which  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  navigation  system  to  which  Great  Britain  is  chiefly 
indebted  for  her  opulence  and  maritime  strength,  but 
which  was  to  have  an  inimical  effect  upon  the  American 
colonies  and  a  great  influence  in  estranging  them  from 
the  mother  country.  This  act,  which  prohibited  any  for- 
eign nation  from  trading  with  any  of  the  English  planta- 
tions without  a  license  from  the  Council  of  State,  fell  with 
great  severity  upon  the  sugar  colonies,  against  which  it 
was  indeed  chiefly  aimed,  and  was  regarded  as  a  chastise- 
ment inflicted  on  them  by  the  Commonwealth  for  their 
loyalty  to  Charles.  The  colonists  of  the  Sugar  islands 
were  filled  with  amazement  and  indignation  on  finding  the 
provisions  confirmed  upon  the  restoration  of  that  monarch. 
Cromwell  had  put  an  end  to  their  foreign  trade,  and  now 
Charles  was  taxing  them  out  of  their  estates.  Many 
planters  determined  to  leave  Barbadoes,  and  they  turned 
to  the  proposed  colony  in  Carolina. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  1663,  Sir  John  Colleton,  then  in 
London,  addressed  a  communication  to  the  Duke  of  Al- 
bemarle, stating  that  divers  people  desired  to  settle  and 
plant  his  Majesty's  province  of  Carolina  under  the  patent 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      71 

granted,  but  that  one  Mr.  Mariot,  steward  to  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  had  set  up  a  claim  grounded  upon  the  patent  to 
Sir  Robert  Heath. 

This,  he  says,  "will  certainly  hinder  that  publique  worke 
which  is  intended  by  the  settlement  and  planting  of  Caro- 
lina for  the  persons  that  at  present  designe  thither  expect 
liberty  of  conscience  and  without  that  will  not  goe  w^^  by 
the  patent  to  S'  Robert  Heath  cannot  bee  granted  them 
and  they  cannot  settle  under  the  patent  least  the  other 
gentlemen  shall  give  them  trouble  or  disturbance  —  so 
that  there  is  a  necessity  of  the  present  removall  of  that 
obstacle  which  is  humblie  left  to  the  consideracon  of  yo5 
Grace  and  the  noble  persons  concern'd."^ 

Upon  this,  on  the  12th,  the  Privy  Council  ordered  that 
his  Majesty's  Attorney  General  should  proceed  either  by 
inquisition  or  scire  facias  to  revoke  all  former  grants  of 
the  province  ;  and  that  in  future  a  clause  should  be 
inserted  in  all  grants,  that  if  within  a  certain  number 
of  years  no  settlement  was  made,  the  grant  should 
become  void.^ 

While  Sir  John  Colleton  was  thus  removing  the  obsta- 
cle presented  by  the  claims  under  Sir  Robert  Heath's 
grants.  Colonel  Modiford,  who  had  been  Governor  of  Bar- 
badoes,  and  Peter  Colleton,  were  preparing  and  submit- 
ting proposals  for  the  settlement  of  a  Barbadian  colony 
in  the  province.  Without  waiting  for  the  acceptance  of 
their  proposals,  they  sent  out  an  expedition  in  the  ship 
Adventurer^  Captain  Hilton,  to  explore  the  coast  of  Caro- 
lina. The  expedition  sailed  from  Spekes  Bay,  Barbadoes, 
August  10,  1663.  On  Thursday,  3d  September,  Hilton 
entered  a  harbor,  "  and  found  that  it  was  the  River  Jordan, 
and  was  but  four  Leagues  or  thereabouts  N-E  from  Port 
Royal,  which  by  the  Spanyards  is  called  St  Ellens ;  within 
1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  34.  2  jud.,  42. 


72  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

land  both  Rivers  meet  in  one."  This  was  doubtless  the 
Broad  River.  There  the  expedition  remained  some  days, 
endeavoring  to  rescue  a  party  of  Englishmen  who,  they 
learned  from  the  Indians,  were  held  on  shore  by  the 
Spaniards.  Failing  in  this,  Hilton  sailed  to  the  Cape 
Fear,  and  after  remaining  there  exploring  the  country  he 
returned  to  Barbadoes  on  the  6th  of  January,  1663-64. 
His  Relation  of  his  voyage  and  discoveries  was  published 
in  London  in  1664. ^  The  Proprietors,  however,  did  not 
accept  the  proposals  as  made  by  Colonel  Modiford  and 
Peter  Colleton,  under  whose  auspices  the  expedition  was 
made,  and  nothing  came  of  this  attempt  at  a  settlement 
of  the  new  province.  Modiford  turned  his  attention  to 
Jamaica,  where  he  settled  with  his  large  fortune,  and 
found  an  ample  field  for  the  employment  of  his  capital, 
talents,  and  industry. ^ 

1  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston^  1884  (Courtenay),  227. 

2  Foyer's  Hist,  of  Barbadoes,  68. 


CHAPTER   III 

1663-69 

As  early  as  1660  a  company  from  Massachusetts  had 
found  their  way  to  the  Cape  Fear,  then  known  as  Charles 
River,  and  planted  themselves  on  its  borders.  These 
men  were  merely  adventurers,  who  came  under  no 
authority,  and  claimed  under  no  grant.  They  made  some 
slight  examination  of  the  country  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river  only,  and  determined  to  occupy  it  for  the  purpose 
of  rearing  cattle.  An  effort  was  made  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  some  of  their  friends  in  England  in  bearing 
the  expense,  and  some  individuals  residing  in  London 
were  induced  on  their  representation  "to  share  in  the 
enterprise."  The  larger  portion  of  the  company,  however, 
was  composed  of  New  England  men.  It  is  not  certainly 
known  how  long  these  adventurers  remained  ;  but  they 
had  abandoned  the  country  before  Hilton's  arrival,  and 
left  a  writing  upon  a  post  to  the  disparagement  of  the 
land  and  to  the  discouragement  of  all  those  that  there- 
after should  come  to  settle  there. ^ 

The  Lords  Proprietors  in  May,  1663,  met  to  devise  their 
plans.  The  first  measure  adopted  Avas  that  of  a  contribu- 
tion of  funds  in  the  nature  of  a  joint  stock  company  for  the 
transportation  of  colonists.     Their  second  was  the  issu- 

1  Hawks's  Hist,  of  N^o.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  73  ;  Hilton's  Voyage ;  Tear  Book 
Charleston  (Courtenay),  1864,  249;  A  New  Voyage  to  Carolina  (Law- 
son,  1709),  73. 

73 


74  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

ing  of  proposals  upon  the  most  liberal  terms  to  encour- 
age emigration  to  their  territory.  Publicity  was  given 
to  these  proposals,  not  only  to  obtain  colonists  under  their 
charter,  but  also  to  counteract  and  warn  the  public  against 
other  proposals  made  in  London  by  the  New  England  ad- 
venturers, claiming  title  by  occupancy  —  a  singular  claim, 
truly,  for  those  who  had  not  only  abandoned  the  lands  to 
which  they  had  never  had  any  legal  rights,  but  had  taken 
the  pains  to  warn  all  others  of  their  worthlessness.  The 
Proprietors  also  took  care  to  send  to  every  one  in  London 
connected  with  the  New  England  company  copies  of  both 
the  proposals  purporting  to  have  been  made  in  the  name 
of  that  company  and  of  their  own.  A  cautious  reply  was 
made  by  the  New  Englanders,  which  neither  admitted  nor 
denied  the  title  of  the  Proprietors,  but  confessed  their  own 
abandonment  of  the  country. 

It  now  behooved  the  Proprietors,  under  the  rule  tliey 
themselves  had  had  laid  down  by  the  Privy  Council,  to  show 
some  effort  to  settle  the  great  domain  granted  them,  and 
in  order  "  that  the  King  may  see  that  wee  sleepe  not  with 
his  grants,"  ^  they  sent  a  commission  to  Sir  William  Berke- 
ley, one  of  their  number,  then  Governor  of  Virginia,  con- 
stituting him  Governor  also  of  "All  that  Terrytory  or  tract 
of  ground  now  called  the  Province  of  Carolina  syctuate 
lyeing,  and  being  within  his  Majestys  Dominion  in  Amer- 
ica extending  from  the  north  end  of  the  Island  called 
Lucke  Island  which  lyeth  on  the  Southern  Virginia  Seas 
and  within  36  degrees  of  Northern  Lattitude  and  to  the 
west  as  far  as  the  south  seas  aforesaid  ;  "  ^  that  is,  the  terri- 
tory between  Virginia  and  Albemarle  Sound,  and  which" 
was  by  subsequent  instruction  to  Drummond,  the  succes- 
sor of  Berkeley,  to  contain  1600  square  miles  —  Albemarle 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  56. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  I,  48. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      75 

County.  They  also  determined  at  this  time  to  lay  off  an- 
other county, — that  of  Clarendon ;  so  on  the  1st  of  Novem- 
ber, 1664,  Robert  Samford  (Sandford)  was  commissioned 
Secretary  and  Chief  Register  of  the  County  of  Clarendon, 
and  on  the  24th  John  Vassal  was  commissioned  the  Gov- 
ernor General,^  —  but  its  boundaries  were  not  defined. 

Sir  John  Yeamans  had  been  in  negotiation  with  the 
Proprietors,  through  his  son  Major  William  Yeamans,  on 
behalf  of  himself  and  some  eighty-odd  other  Barbadians, 
which  resulted  in  the  execution  of  an  agreement  on  the 
7th  of  January,  1664-65,  entitled  "The  concession  and 
agreements  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  the  Province  of 
Carolina  to  and  with  the  adventurers  of  the  Island  of  Bar- 
badoes  and  their  associates  of  England,  New  England,  the 
Carribbia  Islands  and  Barmothos^  to  the  Province  of  Caro- 
lina and  all  that  shall  plant  there.  In  order  to  the  settling 
and  planting  of  the  countye  of  Clarendine,  the  county  of 
Albemarle  and  the  county  of  .  .  . ,  which  latter  is  to  be 
to  the  southward  and  westward  of  Cape  Romania  all 
within  the  Province  aforesaid.  "^ 

These  concessions  constituted  a  very  elaborate  system  of 
government  for  the  proposed  colony,  and  in  pursuance  of 
the  agreement  Sir  John  Yeamans  was  on  the  11th  of  Jan- 
uary commissioned  Governor  of  the  "  County  of  Clarendon 
near  Cape  Faire  and  of  all  that  tract  of  ground  which 
lyeth  southerly  as  farr  as  the  River  St  Mathias  which  bor- 
derth  upon  coast  of  Florida  within  31  degrees  northern  lat- 
titude  and  so  west  as  farr  as  the  South  Seas  as  also  all 
Islands  and  Islets  Rivers  and  Seas  within  the  said  bounds, 
and  our  said  Province  of  Carolina.  With  power  to  nomi- 
nate appoynt  and  take  to  you  12  able  men  at  most,  6  at 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  72,  73. 

2  Bermuda  '-  still  vexed  Bermoothes."     The  Tempest,  1-2. 

8  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  Prefatory  Notes  xiv,  75-92. 


76  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

least  to  be  of  your  councile  or  assistance  or  any  even 
number  between  6  and  12  unless  we  have  before  made 
choyce  or  shall  chuse  all  or  any  of  them."  Yeamans  was 
also  made  Lieutenant  General  of  the  county  and  tract  of 
ground  aforesaid.^ 

By  a  memorandum  at  the  time,  it  was  agreed  that  al- 
though the  County  of  Clarendon  and  all  the  tract  of 
ground  as  far  as  the  River  St.  Matthias  and  west  as  far 
as  the  South  Seas  was  to  be  for  the  present  under  Sir 
John  Yeamans,  "yit  notwithstanding  it  is  ment  and  in- 
tended that  that  part  of  it  which  is  about  to  be  settled  to 
the  southward  and  westward  of  Cape  Romania  be  a  dis- 
tinkt  Government  from  the  county  of  Clarendon,  and  that 
their  be  a  distinkt  deputy  Governor  for  the  present  and 
that  it  be  called  the  county  of  Craven,  and  as  soon  as  it 
shall  be  settled  by  the  said  Sir  John  Yeamans  or  any 
other  that  there  be  a  distinkt  Governor  commisionated  to 
govern  there."  ^ 

Some  doubts,  as  we  have  seen,  still  lingered  in  regard 
to  the  titles  under  Sir  Robert  Heath's  patent,  and  it  was 
doubtless  to  settle  these,  as  well  as  to  enlarge  the  extent 
of  the  territory  in  America  which  England  was  disposed 
to  claim,  that  a  second  charter  was  granted  to  the  same 
noblemen  on  the  13th  of  June,  1665.  The  grant  to  Sir 
Robert  Heath,  which  had  not  been  formally  declared  for- 
feited at  the  time  of  the  first  charter  of  the  present  Pro- 
prietors in  1663,  had  now  been  so  declared  by  the  King  in 
council,  and  it  was  deemed  safest  therefore  for  the  pres- 
ent Proprietors  to  obtain  another,  dated  subsequently  to 
that  declaration.  The  limits  of  the  province  were  now 
enlarged  to  29°  in  the  south,  instead  of  to  the  River  St. 
Matthias  (St.  John's)  and  36°  30"  on  the  north,  includ- 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca..,  vol.  I,  97. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  I,  93. 


tJNbER   fHE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  ?7 

ing  all  within  these  parallels  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
"  South  Seas  "  ^  (Pacific) ;  that  is,  besides  the  present  State 
of  South  Carolina,  the  States  of  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas,  the  Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and 
the  lower  part  of  the  State  of  California  ;  a  region  which 
has  in  a  great  measure  been  peopled  from  the  colony 
established  under  this  charter,  and  governed  by  the  politi- 
cal ideas  emanating  from  the  point  of  settlement  at  the 
junction  of  Kiawha  and  Wando  rivers  —  the  city  by  the 
sea  —  a  region  which,  it  will  be  observed,  is  almost  coinci- 
dent with  the  territory  of  the  Confederate  States  in  the 
War  of  Secession. 

Rivers  points  out  other  differences  between  the  charter 
of  1663  and  that  of  1665.  In  the  first  the  territory  was 
spoken  of  as  one  province.  In  the  second,  authority  was 
given  to  subdivide  it  into  counties,  baronies,  and  colonies 
with  separate  and  distinct  jurisdictions,  liberties,  and 
privileges. 

There  is  also  some  change  in  the  terms  of  the  clause 
requiring  the  assent  of  the  freemen  to  the  enactment  of 
laws.  In  the  first  charter  it  was  provided  that  all  laws 
should  be  made  "  with  the  advice  assent  and  approbation 
of  the  freemen  of  the  said  province.''^  ^     In  the  second  it  was 

1 1st  Statute,  32  ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  102. 

2  The  term  "province"  is  defined  to  be  "an  out  country  governed  by 
a  Deputy  or  Lieutenant"  (Jacob's  Law  Dictionary),  and  it  has  been  said 
that  the  term  is  only  properly  applied  to  territories  over  which  Governors 
were  appointed  by  the  King ;  and  that  the  term  "colonies"  is  properly 
applicable  only  to  those  in  which  the  Governor  was  elected  by  the  inhabi- 
tants. Government  of  the  Colony  of  So.  Ca.  (Whitney)  ;  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  13  series,  1-11,  22.  But  the  terms  "  province  "  and  "  colony  " 
are  used  convertibly  throughout  the  Statutes  of  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment of  South  Carolina.  More  strictly  speaking,  it  was  the  province  of 
Carolina,  and  the  colonies  on  the  Ashley  and  at  Albemarle,  and  after- 
wards the  colonies  of  North  and  South  Carolina. 


78  HISTORY   O^   SOUTH   CAROLliTA 

made  to  read  "  by  and  with  the  advice  assent  and  appro- 
bation of  the  freemen  of  the  said  province  or  territory  or 
of  the  freemen  of  the  county  harony  or  colony  for  which 
such  laws  or  constitutions  shall  he  made  or  the  greater  part  of 
them.''  The  intention  of  this  was  no  doubt  to  allow  the 
establishment  of  several  colonies  in  the  territory  granted, 
but  in  doing  so  to  secure  the  assent  of  the  freemen  of  any 
such  separate  colony  to  the  particular  laws  as  a  prerequi- 
site to  their  enactment. 

Another  modification  was  in  the  article  in  regard  to 
religion.  In  the  first  charter  the  Proprietors  were  given 
power  to  grant  indulgences  and  dispensations  to  such 
persons  who  really  in  their  judgment  and  for  conscience' 
sake  could  not  conform  to  the  liturgy  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Sir  John  Colleton  in  his  com- 
munication to  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  had  intimated  that 
the  adventurers  from  Barbadoes  expected  something  more 
explicit  on  this  point ;  and  some  modification  was  now 
made,  but  it  was  very  indefinite,  and  still  left  the  exten- 
sion of  indulgences  to  the  Proprietors.  ''  And  because," 
said  the  new  charter,^  "  it  may  happen  that  some  of  the 
people  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  Province  cannot  in 
their  private  opinions  conform  to  the  publick  exercise  of 
religion  according  to  the  liturgy  form  and  ceremonies  of 
the  church  of  England  or  take  and  subscribe  the  oaths 
and  articles  made  in  that  behalf,  and  for  that  the  same 
by  reason  of  the  remote  distances  of  those  places  will  as  we 
hope  be  no  breach  of  the  unity  and  conformity  established 
in  this  nation,"  it  therefore  granted  to  the  Proprietors 
"  full  and  free  licence  liberty  and  authority  by  such  ways 
and  means  as  they  shall  think  fit  to  give  and  grant  unto 
such  person  or  persons  inhabiting  and  being  within  the 
said  province  or  territory  .  .  .  such  indulgences  and 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  40. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  79 

dispensations  "  as  the  Proprietors  "  shall  in  their  discretion 
think  fit  and  reasonable,  and  that  no  person  or  persons 
unto  whom  such  liberty  shall  he  given  shall  be  in  any  way 
molested  punished  disquieted  or  called  in  question  for 
any  difference  in  opinion  or  practice  in  matters  of  religious 
concernment  who  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civil  peace 
of  the  province  county  or  colony  that  they  shall  make 
their  abode  in  ;  but  all  and  every  such  person  or  persons," 
that  is,  such  person  as  the  Proprietors  should  indulge,  "  may 
from  time  to  time  and  at  all  times  freely  and  quietly  have 
and  enjoy  his  or  their  judgments  and  consciences  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  throughout  the  said  province  or  colony, 
they  behaving  peaceably  and  not  using  this  liberty  to 
licentiousness  nor  to  the  civil  injury  or  outward  disturb- 
ance of  others."  This  second  charter  thus  did  nothing 
more  than  grant  to  the  Proprietors  the  right  and  power  to 
use  their  own  discretion  in  the  matter  of  religious  liberty. 
It  of  itself  granted  to  no  inhabitant  indulgences  or  dispen- 
sations or  guaranteed  religious  liberty.  It  turned  this 
great  matter  over  to  the  Proprietors,  guaranteeing  only  to 
them  the  power  to  act  in  regard  to  it. 

Sir  John  Yeamans,  on  the  11th  of  January,  1664-65,^  had 
been  commissioned  as  Governor  of  the  County  of  Claren- 
don and  of  all  the  territory  as  far  as  Florida.  Under  the 
commission  a  company  "of  adventurers  for  Carolina" 
was  organized  at  Barbadoes,  the  members  of  which  were 
to  be  entitled  to  500  acres  for  every  1000  pounds  of  Mus- 
covado sugar  contributed.2     In   October  following  Yea- 

1  Throughout  the  Proprietary  Government,  and  indeed  until  1752,  for 
the  months  of  January  and  February,  and  to  the  24th  of  March,  dates  are 
thus  given,  the  alteration  in  the  calendar  which  formed  what  is  usually 
called  the  old  and  the  new  styles  not  having  been  adopted  in  England 
until  1752,  by  aid  of  Parliament  of  1751.  See  note  to  page  84,  Statutes  of 
So.  Ca.,  vol.  II. 

2  See  the  form  of  receipt  given  for  the  sugar,  and  claim  for  the  land, 


80  aiSl?OR\'   OF   SOUtH  CAROLIi^A 

mans  sailed  from  Barbadoes  with  his  company  in  a  "  Fly 
boate  of  about  150  Tonns  accompayned  by  a  small  Friggate 
of  his  owne  and  a  Sloope  purchased  by  a  common  purse 
for  the  service  of  the  Colonyes."  ^  These  small  vessels 
were  soon  separated  at  sea  by  a  great  storm,  but  were 
brought  together  again  in  the  beginning  of  November 
and  cast  anchor  before  the  mouth  of  Charles  (Cape  Fear) 
River,  near  Cape  Fear,  in  the  County  of  Clarendon. 
Upon  entering  the  river  the  fly  boat  went  aground  and 
was  wrecked.  No  life  was  lost,  but  the  greater  part  of 
their  provisions,  victuals,  clothes,  and  of  the  arms  and 
ammunition  furnished  by  the  Lords  Proprietors  for  the 
designed  settlement  was  swept  away  in  the  waters. 

The  coast  of  Carolina  from  Cape  Fear  to  St.  Augustine 
was  doubtless  well  known  to  the  Spaniards,  and  still 
better  to  the  pirates  of  all  nations,  who  infested  it  and 
found  shelter  in  its  numerous  bays  and  inlets.  Its  princi- 
pal points  were  all  named  by  the  Spaniards.  The  first 
point  south  of  Cape  Fear  was  called  Cape  Romano.  The 
bay  into  which  the  Kiawha  and  the  Wando  emptied  was 
St.  George's  Bay.  Then  came  St.  Ellen's  Sound  and  Port 
Royal,  the  River  Jordan,  the  Savannah,  and  St.  Matthias 
(the  St.  John's).  Between  the  Indians  on  the  coast  and  the 
Spaniards  in  Florida,  there  was  close  and  more  or  less 
friendly  intercourse.  But  the  coast  and  country  now 
included  in  the  grant  to  the  Proprietors  were  entirely 
unknown  to  Sir  John  Yeamans  and  his  party.  Upon 
arriving  at  Cape  Fear,  Yeamans's  first  purpose  was  there- 
fore the  examination  and  exploration  of  the  country. 
For  this  purpose  his  intention  was  to  repair  the  frigate, 
which,  together  with  the  sloop,  had  got  safely  into  the 

Dalcho's  Church  Hist.,  14,  in  which  Yeamans  styles  himself  Lieutenant 
General  and  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Carolina. 
1  Colonial  Becorda  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  119. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      81 

river,  and  to  send  her  back  to  Barbadoes  vrhile  he  with 
Sandford,  who  had  been  appointed  Clerk  and  Register  of 
the  new  county,  and  who  accompanied  the  expedition, 
and  some  other  gentlemen  of  the  party  who  offered  to 
join  them,  proceeded  upon  a  voyage  of  discovery  to  the 
southward.  The  great  necessities  of  the  colony,  however, 
demanded  that  the  sloop  should  first  be  sent  to  Virginia 
for  supplies,  and  Sir  John,  permitting  it  to  go,  returned 
himself  to  Barbadoes  in  his  frigate.  The  purpose  of  an 
exploration  for  the  site  of  a  southern  settlement  was  not, 
however,  abandoned.  He  left  Sandford  to  carry  it  out, 
directing  him  to  employ  for  the  purpose  either  the  sloop 
upon  her  return  from  Virginia,  if  in  a  fit  condition  for 
the  purpose,  or  to  hire  a  vessel  of  Captain  Edward  Stan- 
yon,  then  in  the  harbor,  bound  for  Barbadoes  upon  her 
return,  whichever  should  first  happen,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  left  also  a  commission  for  Sandford  putting 
him  in  command  of  the  expedition. 

The  sloop  upon  her  return  from  Virginia  was  found 
unfit  for  the  service.  Captain  Stanyon,  in  returning 
from  Barbadoes,  became  demented,  leaped  into  the  sea, 
and  was  lost.  His  little  vessel  was,  however,  by  a 
miraculous  providence  brought  safely  into  port,  and 
Sandford  had  now  a  vessel  with  which  to  undertake 
the  expedition.  Its  burden,  however,  scarce  exceeded 
fifteen  tons. 

Happily,  Sandford  has^left  us  a  most  admirable  account 
of  the  voyage,  so  clear  in  its  statement  that  we  may  follow 
him  and  his  company  from  point  to  point  as  he  describes 
in  quaint  style  the  country,  with  its  vast  expanse  of 
green  marsh  resembling  a  rich  prairie,  its  broad  and 
noble  arms  of  the  sea,  rivers,  and  innumerable  creeks 
fringed  with  oak  and  cedar  and  myrtle  and  jasmine  — 
all  now  so   familiar   to   us  —  as   it   appeared  when   first 


82  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

visited  by  those  who  proposed  to  make  this  new  country 
their  home.^ 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1666,  near  six  months  after  the 
date  of  his  commission,  Sandf  ord  entered  on  his  charge  and 
on  the  16th  left  Charles  River  in  the  Cape  Fear,  and  sailed 
along  the  coast.  He  was  accompanied  by  Captain  George 
Cary,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Hardy,  Lieutenant  Joseph 
Woory,  Ensign  Henry  Brayne,  Ensign  Richard  Abrahall, 
Mr.  Thomas  Giles,  and  several  others  to  the  number  of 
seventeen  besides  himself.  He  took  with  him  a  small 
shallop  of  some  three  tons,  belonging  to  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors, in  Avhich  he  placed  Ensign  Henry  Brayne,  of  some 
experience  in  sea  matters.  The  shallop  parted  company 
with  Sandford's  vessel  on  the  night  of  the  19th,  it  being 
very  cloudy  and  dark. 

On  the  22d  Sandford  made  land,  and  entered  a  fair 
river,  and  sailing  up  about  four  or  five  miles  he  came  to 
anchor,  when  a  canoe  with  two  Indians  approached.  The 
Indians  came  aboard  Sandford's  vessel  and  informed  him 
that  this  was  the  country  of  Edistoh,  and  that  the  chief 
town  or  seat  of  the  Cacique  was  on  the  western  shore 
somewhat  lower  down  towards  the  sea,  from  which  he 
supposed  this  to  be  the  same  river  that  Hilton  had  men- 
tioned as  the  River  Grandy,  which  he  saw  from  sea,  but 
did  not  enter.  Sandford  named  it  Harry  Haven,  in  honor 
of  his  lieutenant.  The  next  day,  the  23d  of  June,  he 
went  with  his  boat  into  a  creek  on  the  east  shore  about  a 
mile  up,  and  landed.  Then,  according  to  instructions, 
he  took  formal  possession  by  the  ancient  ceremony  of 
turf  and  twig  of  the  whole  country  from  the  latitude 
of  36°  north  to  29°  south  and  west  to  the  South  Seas, 
by  the  name  of   the  province   of   Carolina  for  his  Maj- 

1  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1886,  262;  Colonial 
Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  118. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      83 

esty  Charles  the  Second,  King  of  England,  and  to  the  use 
of  the  Proprietors.  Sandford  does  not  mention  whether 
his  landing  was  upon  the  eastern  or  western  bank,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  now  to  know  whether  this  seisin  for  the 
King  and  the  Proprietors  was  taken  on  Wadmalaw  or  Sea- 
brook  Island  ;  but  doubtless  this  formal  entry  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  new  province  was  made  in  the  North  Edisto. 
He  explored  to  some  extent  on  both  sides  of  the  creek, 
passed  through  several  fields  of  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and 
following  the  guidance  of  a  small  path  was  brought  to 
some  of  the  Indian  habitations.  The  next  day  he  went  a 
few  miles  up  the  main  river  to  the  North  Edisto,  and  find- 
ing a  branch  on  the  east  side  he  put  in  there  to  examine 
the  land.  This  he  found  firm  and  dry,  a  flat  black  mould 
with  a  scarce  discernible  mixture  of  sand  founded  on  marl 
or  clay.  The  land  he  esteemed  very  profitable  and  tillable, 
and  some  of  his  company  discovered  an  Indian  planted 
field,  which  they  told  him  "bore  as  tall  Maiz  as  any." 
He  rowed  up  this  creek  and,  besides  the  swamps,  saw  and 
ranged  through  very  spacious  tracts  of  rich  oak  land, 
though  not  yet  past  the  oyster  banks  and  frequent  heaps 
of  shells  near  the  salt  water.  On  his  return  down  the 
river  he  stopped  at  the  landing-place  nearest  to  the  chief 
seat  of  the  Edistohs,  so  that  the  Indians  might  with  less 
trouble  come  aboard  to  trade. 

While  lying  there,  a  captain  of  the  Nations,  named 
Shadoo,  one  whom  Hilton  had  carried  to  Barbadoes,  was 
very  earnest  that  some  of  the  company  would  go  with  him 
and  lie  at  night  at  his  town,  which  he  told  them  was  but 
a  small  distance  away.  Lieutenant  Harvey,  Lieutenant 
Woory,  Mr.  Thomas  Giles,  and  Mr.  Henry  Woodward 
offering  themselves  to  go,  and  some  Indians  remaining  on 
board,  Sandford  permitted  their  doing  so.  They  returned 
the  next  morning,  much  pleased  with  their  entertainment, 


84  HISTORY  OP   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

and  especially  with  the  richness  of  the  land  through  which 
they  had  marched  and  the  delightful  situation  of  the  town. 
The  Cacique  himself,  however,  had  not  appeared.  His 
state  was  supplied  by  a  female  who  received  the  party 
with  gladness  and  courtesy.  This  induced  Sandford  to 
go  himself,  so,  taking  with  him  Captain  George  Cary  and 
a  file  of  men,  he  marched  thither,  followed  by  a  long  train 
of  Indians,  of  whom  some  one  or  other  always  presented 
himself  to  carry  Sandford  on  his  shoulders  over  any  of 
the  branches,  creeks,  or  damp  places.  The  march  tended 
to  the  southward  of  the  west  and  consequently  led  near 
the  sea  coast,  yet,  says  Sandford,  it  opened  to  their  view 
so  excellent  a  country  both  for  woodland  and  meadow  as 
gave  singular  satisfaction  to  all  the  company.  Having 
entered  into  the  town,  the  party  were  conducted  into  a 
large  house  of  a  circular  form  (their  generall  house  of 
State).  Opposite  the  entrance  was  a  high  seat,  sufficient 
for  half  a  dozen  persons,  on  which  sat  the  Cacique  him- 
self, with  his  wife  (she  who  had  received  the  party  the 
evening  before)  on  his  right  hand.  The  Cacique  was 
an  old  man  of  large  stature.  Kound  the  house  on  each 
side  were  lower  benches  filled  with  more  women  and 
children.  In  the  centre  a  constant  fire  was  kept  burning 
on  a  great  heap  of  ashes  and  surrounded  with  little  low 
benches.  Sandford  and  Cary  were  placed  on  the  higher 
seat  on  each  side  of  the  Cacique,  and  presented  with 
skins,  accompanied  with  ceremonies  of  welcome  and  friend- 
ship. Sandford  thus  describes  the  town,  which  was  prob- 
ably somewhere  near  to  the  site  of  the  present  village 
of  Rockville  on  Wadmalaw  Island  :  — 

"...  The  Towne  is  scituate  on  the  side  or  rather  in  the  skirts  of 
a  faire  forrest  in  which  att  severall  distances  are  divers  fields  of  Maiz 
with  many  little  houses  straglingly  amongst  them  for  the  habitations 
of  the  particalar  families,  On  the  East  side  and  part  of  the  South 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT      85 

it  hath  a  large  prospect  over  meadows  very  spatious  and  delightful!. 
Before  the  Doore  of  their  State-house  is  a  spacious  walke  rowed  with 
trees  on  both  sides  tall  &  full  branched  not  much  unlike  to  Elms 
■which  sei-ves  for  the  Exercise  and  recreation  of  the  men  who  by 
Couple  runn  after  a  marble  bowie  troled  out  alternately  by  them- 
selves with  six  foote  staves  in  their  hands  which  they  tosse  after  the 
bowle  in  their  race,  and  according  to  the  laying  of  these  staves  wine 
or  loose  the  beeds  they  contend  for ;  an  exercise  approveable  enough 
in  the  winter  but  somewhat  too  violent  (meethought)  for  that  season 
and  noon  time  of  the  day.  From  this  walke  is  another  lesse  aside 
from  the  house  for  the  children  to  Sport  in." 

After  a  few  hours  Sandford  returned  to  his  vessel  with 
a  great  troop  of  Indians  following  him.  The  old  Cacique 
himself  came  aboard  his  vessel  and  remained  there  that 
night  without  any  of  his  people,  some  scores  of  whom, 
however,  lay  in  booths  on  the  beach.  While  he  lay  there 
Sandford  learned  that  the  river  went  through  to  another 
more  westerly  and  was  passable  for  his  vessel.  This  in- 
creased his  desire  of  passing  that  way,  as  he  was  persuaded 
from  Hilton's  map  that  the  next  river  was  the  Jordan. 
So  on  the  27th  of  June,  with  the  help  of  a  flood  tide, 
though  the  wind  was  contrary,  he  turned  up  the  river,  in 
which  he  found  the  channel  six  fathom  deep  and  bold  for 
a  distance  about  ten  miles  from  the  harbor's  mouth,  where 
the  river  contracted  between  the  marshes,  but  was  seldom 
less  than  five  fathom  deep.  The  river  being  narrow  and 
winding,  no  wind  would  serve  long ;  so  that  for  the  m'ost 
part  he  was  forced  to  tow  through,  often  against  the  wind, 
which  proved  very  tedious,  the  more  so  as  they  could  only 
proceed  by  day.  So  that  it  was  Sunday  morning,  the  1st 
of  July,  before  they  came  to  the  next  westerly  river  and 
by  it  again  to  the  sea. 

From  this  description  of  his  voyage  it  is  very  clear  that 
Sandford  passed  by  Jehossee  Island  through  Dawhow 
River,  from  North  to  South  Edisto.     He  was  much  puz- 


86  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

zled  on  reaching  the  sea  to  find  none  of  the  marks  which 
Hilton  had  indicated  for  the  Jordan;  and  an  evening 
storm  driving  him  back  into  the  river,  he  anchored  and 
went  ashore  on  the  east  point,  and  there  he  found  Shadoo 
and  several  other  Indians  who  had  come  by  land  across 
Edisto  Island  to  see  them  come  down  the  South  Edisto. 
From  these  he  learned  that  this  was  not  the  river  in 
which  Hilton  had  been.  That  Hilton  had  not  known 
of  it.  The  river  in  which  Hilton  had  been  was  the  next. 
When  Sandford  asked  the  name  of  this  river,  they  an- 
swered him  Edistows,  and  from  this  he  says  he  learned 
that  the  Indians  assigned  names  not  to  the  rivers,  but  to 
the  countries  and  people. 

Amongst  the  Indians  who  had  thus  come  to  see  him 
was  one  who  had  traded  with  the  colony  at  the  Cape  Fear, 
and  was  known  to  them  by  the  name  of  Cacique  of  the 
country  of  Kiawha.  The  Cacique  was  very  urgent  that 
Sandford  should  go  to  his  country,  assuring  him  of  a 
broad  and  deep  entrance  and  promising  a  large  welcome 
and  plentiful  entertainment  and  trade.  But  Sandford 
told  him  he  must  first  go  to  Port  Royal  and  that  on  his 
return  he  would  see  his  country.  The  Indian  would  not, 
however,  leave  Sandford,  but  to  secure  his  return  must 
needs  accompany  him  to  Port  Royal  as  his  pilot  for  that 
river.  He  sent  his  companion  to  give  notice  to  the  Chief 
Cacique  of  the  place  of  Sandford's  coming,  tliat  he  might 
prepare  food,  and  went  himself  on  board  of  Sandford's 
vessel. 

With  the  morning  light,  Sandford  weighed  and  stood 
out  Lo  sen,  vrtih  an  easy  gale  at  northeast  and  an  ebb  tide; 
but,  unacquainted  with  the  coast,  with  which  Shadoo  him- 
self does  not  appear  to  have  been  better  informed,  he  ran 
upon  the  shoals,  and  nearly  lost  his  vessel.  From  this  he 
branded  the  place  with  the  name  of  Port   Peril.     It  is 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  87 

the  same  that  was  then  known  to  the  Spaniards  as  St. 
Helena  Sound.  After  clearing  the  sands,  he  stood  out 
to  sea,  and  sailing  around  St.  Helena  Island,  he  came  to 
anchor  off  Hilton  Head.  Broad  River,  which  had  been 
called  the  Jordan,  he  named  Yeamans  Harbor,  in  honor  of 
the  Lieutenant  General  and  Governor.  Whilst  there,  he 
espied  with  great  rejoicing  the  shallop  which  had  been 
parted  from  them  since  the  19th  of  June.  St.  Helena 
Island  he  had  named  Gary  Island,  in  honor  of  his  lieu- 
tenant, and  Hilton  Head  Island,  Woory  Island.  The 
shallop  had  come  out  of  Yeamans  Harbor.  Sandford  fired 
a  gun  and  ran  up  his  colors  to  let  Brayne  know  that  they 
saw  him,  but  could  not  get  to  him  for  the  mud  flats.  On 
the  3d  of  July,  he  luffed  into  the  bay,  and  steering  away 
between  Hilton  Head  and  the  entrance  of  Port  Royal, 
about  midnight  came  to  anchor  within  Port  Royal  River 
in  seven  fathoms  of  water. 

The  next  inorning  Sandford  moved  opposite  to  the 
principal  Indian  town,  and  anchored  before  it.  He  had 
not  ridden  there  long  before  the  Cacique  of  that  country 
himself  appeared  in  a  canoe,  full  of  Indians,  presenting 
him  with  skins,  and  bidding  him  welcome  after  their 
manner.  Sandford  went  ashore  with  the  Cacique  to  see 
the  town,  which  stood  in  sight  of  the  vessel.  This  was 
doubtless,  from  the  description,  Paris  Island  between  Port 
Royal  and  Broad  River.  Sandford  found  the  town,  as  to 
the  forms  of  building,  in  every  respect  like  that  of  Edisto, 
with  a  plain  before  the  great  roundhouse  for  their  bowl- 
ing recreation.  At  the  end  of  this,  there  stood  a  fair 
wooden  cross,  which  the  Spaniards  had  left ;  but  it  was  not 
observed  that  the  Indians  performed  any  adoration  before 
it.  All  round  the  town,  for  a  great  space,  were  fields  of 
maize  of  very  large  growth.  The  soil  was  nothing  infe- 
rior to  the  best  he  had  seen  at  Edisto  ;  apparently  more 


88  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

loose  and  light.  X^e  trees  in  the  woods  were  much  larger, 
all  the  ground  under  them  covered  with  a  great  variety 
of  pasturage.  He  saw  there,  besides  a  great  number  of 
peaches,  some  fig-trees  very  large  and  fair,  both  fruit 
and  plants,  and  divers  grape  vines  which,  though  growing 
without  culture  in  the  very  throng  of  weeds  and  bushes, 
were  filled  with  bunches  of  grapes,  to  his  great  admiration. 
Upon  the  whole,  they  esteemed  the  country  superior  even 
to  Edisto.  It  was  all  cut  up  into  islands  made  by  the 
intervenings  of  rivers  and  creeks,  yet  of  firm  good  lands, 
excepting  what  was  marsh ;  nor  were  the  islands  so  small, 
many  of  them  containing  thousands  of  acres  of  rich  habi- 
table woodland,  whose  very  banks  were  washed  by  river 
or  creek,  contributing  not  only  to  the  fertility,  but  to  the 
convenience  of  portage. 

After  a  few  hours'  stay,  to  view  the  land  about  the  town, 
he  returned  to  his  vessel,  and  there  found  Ensign  Brayne 
with  his  shallop,  who  had  come  that  morning  through  the 
sound  from  Yeamans  Harbor,  at  the  mouth  of  which  they 
had  seen  him  two  days  before.  He  reported  that  the 
morning  Sandford  had  gone  into  Edisto  he  sailed  along 
until  evening,  when  he  had  entered  Yeamans  Harbor,  and 
not  finding  Sandford  there  and  "  guessing  "  that  he  might 
be  more  southerly,  he  came  through  Port  Royal  and  ac- 
quainted himself  with  Wommony,  the  son  of  the  Cacique, 
who  had  been  to  Barbadoes,  and  with  whom  he  easily  pre- 
vailed to  bear  him  company  as  guide  from  place  to  place 
in  the  several  creeks  and  branches;  that  under  his  pro- 
tection he  had  had  an  excellent  opportunity  of  viewing 
all  that  part  of  the  country,  which,  says  Sandford,  "  he  did 
so  loudly  applaud  for  land  and  rivers  that  his  company's 
commendations  of  Edisto  could  scarce  outnoise  him."  Sat- 
isfied with  Brayne's  report,  Sandford  determined  to  lose 
no  more  time  there,  but  to  proceed  up  the  main  river  and 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  89 

see  the  country,  and  upon  his  return,  to  enter  a  creek  on 
the  west  shore,  which  Brayne  had  not  explored ;  which  he 
was  the  more  desirous  to  do  because  the  Indians  reported 
that  it  led  to  a  great  southern  river  which  pierced  far 
into  the  country  and  he  supposed  might  be  the  French- 
man's River  May  or  the  Spaniard's  St.  Matthias.  With 
the  flood  tide  and  a  favorable  wind  he  sailed  up  the  river 
in  the  shallop  nearly  thirty  miles  as  he  estimated  it,  pass- 
ing where  it  divides  itself  into  two  principal  branches,  the 
westernmost  of  which  he  went  up  and  landed.  From  this 
statement  it  appears  that  it  was  Coosawhatchie  that  he 
ascended.  He  found  the  ground  rising  and  crossed  sev- 
eral fine  falls  and  one  brook  of  sweet  water,  which  ran 
murmuring  betwefen  two  hills.  He  was  still  more  pleased 
with  the  country.  The  land  here,  he  says,  was  such  as 
made  them  all  conclude  not  only  a  possibility  that  Edisto 
might  be,  but  a  certainty  that  it  was,  exceeded  by  the 
country  of  Port  Royal.  Tired. 'with  his  march  through  a 
rank  growth  of  vines,  bushes,  a^iM  grass,  which  fettered 
his  legs  and  proclaimed  the  richness  of  the  soil,  Sandford 
returned  to  the  boat  and  fell  down  with  the  ebb  towards 
his  vessel,  passing  divers  fair  creeks  in  each  side,  which 
time  did  not  allow  him  to  enter.  Upon  returning  to  his 
vessel,  he  then  crossed  the  river  into  the  western  creek 
he  had  mentioned,  which,  after  three  or  four  miles,  opened 
into  a  great  sound  full  of  islands.  This  was,  without 
doubt,  Calibouge  Sound.  He  describes  it  as  emptying  into 
the  sea  by  two  or  three  outlets.  He  spent  two  days  ex- 
ploring the  islands  around,  finding  them  of  as  good  firm 
land  as  any  he  had  seen,  and  better  timbered  with  live- 
oak,  cedar,  and  bay  trees.  He  concluded  from  what  he  saw 
that  on  this  sound  alone  habitation  for  thousands  of  people 
might  be  found,  with  conveniences  for  their  stock  of  all 
kinds.     In  fine,  he  could  see  nothing  here  to  be  wished 


90  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

for  but  a  good  store  of  English  inhabitants.  He  gave  to 
the  sound  his  own  name,  but  it  has  not  retained  it. 

Returning  to  his  vessel,  on  the  7th  of  July  Sandford 
took  in  some  fresh  water,  proposing  that  night  to  leave 
Port  Royal  and  return  homeward,  the  discovery  he  had 
made  exceeding  all  his  own  and  he  was  confident  would 
answer  all  other  expectations.  He  purposed  also  to  spend 
some  days  in  viewing  the  country  of  Kiawha,  the  Indian 
of  that  nation  remaining  still  with  him  for  the  purpose 
of  guiding  him  thither. 

A  little  before  night  the  Cacique  of  Port  Royal  came 
aboard,  bringing  with  him  his  sister's  son.  He  inquired 
of  Sandford  when  he  would  return,  and  pointing  to  the 
moon  asked  whether  he  would  come  within  three  times  of 
her  completing  her  orb.  Sandford  told  him  no;  but  in 
ten  months.  He  seemed  troubled  at  the  length  of  time 
and  begged  him  to  come  back  in  five.  Sandford  insisted 
upon  the  first  number  he  had  given.  This  being  settled, 
the  Cacique  gave  Sandford  the  young  fellow  to  take  with 
him,  telling  him  he  must  clothe  him  and  bring  him  back 
when  he  returned.  Then  he  asked  Sandford  when  he 
would  sail,  and  when  informed  that  he  would  do  so  that 
night,  he  importuned  him  to  stay  till  the  next  day,  that 
he  might  prepare  him  some  venison. 

Sandford  was  much  pleased  with  this  adventure  and 
with  the  offer  of  the  Cacique  to  let  his  nephew  go  with 
him,  he  leaving  an  Englishman  in  his  room,  for  the 
mutual  learning  of  their  language.  This  he  could  do, 
for  one  of  his  company,  Mr.  Henry  Woodward,  a  surgeon, 
had  proposed  to  stay  with  the  Indians  for  the  purpose. 
Sandford. determined,  therefore,  to  wait  until  the  next 
morning,  to  see  if  the  Indians  would  remain  constant  to 
their  purpose.  Then  taking  Woodward  and  the  young 
man  with  him,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  Indians  of  the 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  91 

place  and  of  the  fellow's  relations,  he  asked  if  they  ap- 
proved of  his  going  with  him.  They  all  with  one  voice 
consented.  He  then  delivered  Woodward  to  the  Cacique 
in  the  sight  and  hearing  of  the  whole  town,  telling  them 
that  when  he  returned  he  would  require  him  at  their 
hands.  They  received  Woodward  with  expressions  of 
great  joy  and  thankfulness.  The  Cacique  placed  him  by 
himself  on  the  throne  and  then  led  him  forth  and  showed 
him  a  large  field  of  maize,  which  he  told  him  should  be 
his ;  then  brought  him  the  sister  of  the  young  man  who 
was  going  with  Sandford,  to  tend  and  dress  his  victuals 
and  to  take  care  of  him  so  that  her  brother  might  be 
better  used  by  the  white  men.  Sandford,  after  staying 
a  while,  being  wondrous  civilly  treated  after  the  manner 
of  the  Indians,  and  giving  Woodward  formal  possession 
of  the  whole  country  to  hold  for  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
returned  aboard  and  immediately  weighed  anchor  and 
set  sail. 

The  morning  of  the  10th  of  July  Sandford  found  himself 
before  the  river  that  led  into  the  country  of  Kiawha  in 
the  present  Charleston  harbor,  but  the  Indian  of  the  place, 
who  had  remained  with  him  all  the  while  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  piloting  him  into  the  harbor,  mistook  the 
entrance,  and  Sandford  under  his  direction  had  stood  away 
some  two  leagues  before  the  pilot  saw  his  mistake.  It 
was  now  too  late,  for  the  wind  was  so  that  he  could  not 
fetch  the  river  again  and  even  if  the  weather  had  been  fair 
could  not  enter  it  before  night;  but  the  appearance  of 
the  heavens  forbade  his  lying  that  night  upon  the  coast. 
The  river  he  described  as  lying  between  Harry  Haven 
(Edisto)  and  Cape  St.  Romana,  and  found  seven  or  eight 
fathoms  of  water  very  near  the  shore  and  not  the  least  ap- 
pearance of  shoals  or  dangers  in  any  part  of  it.  It  showed 
a  very  fair  large  opening,  clear  of  any  fiats  barring  the 


92  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

entrance  —  only  before  the  eastern  point  he  saw  a  beach, 
but  which  did  not  extend  far  out.  He  persuaded  himself 
that  it  led  to  an  excellent  country,  both  from  the  com- 
mendation the  Indian  gave  it  and  from  what  he  had  seen 
at  Edisto.  Wherefore,  in  hopes  that  it  might  prove  worthy 
the  dignity,  he  called  the  river  Ashley,  from  the  Right 
Hon.  Lord  Ashley,  and  to  take  away,  he  says,  every 
vestige  of  foreign  title,  he  blotted  out  the  name  of  St. 
Romano  and  called  the  cape.  Cape  Carteret,  in  honor  of 
Sir  George  Carteret,  a  Proprietor  of  Carolina. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  about  noon,  Sandford  and  his 
company  entered  Charles  River,  the  Cape  Fear,  and  landed, 
to  the  great  rejoicing  of  their  friends,  who  received  not, 
he  says,  their  persons  more  gratefully  than  the  favorable 
report  they  brought  with  them  of  the  country  they  had 
seen  and  examined,  in  which  they  found  ample  room  for 
many  thousands  secured  from  any  danger  of  massacre 
with  such  accommodation,  to  boot,  as  scarce  any  place  can 
parallel,  in  a  clime  perfectly  temperate,  and  where  the  soil 
cannot  fail  to  yield  so  great  a  variety  of  production  as 
will  give  an  absolute  self -sustenance  to  the  place  without 
foreign  dependence  and  also  furnish  a  trade  to  the  king- 
dom of  England  as  great  as  that  she  has  with  all  her 
neighbors,  "and,"  he  concluded,  "under  our  Sovereign 
Lord  the  King  within  his  owne  Dominions  and  the  Lands 
possessed  by  his  Naturall  English  subjects  universall  Mon- 
arch of  the  Traffique  and  comodity  of  the  whole  world." 

Chalmers  in  his  Political  Annals  ^  asserts  that  Sir  John 
Yeamans  remained  with  the  Barbadian  colony  on  the 
Cape  Fear  and  ruled  them  with  the  affection  of  a  father, 
rather  than  with  the  authority  of  a  Governor,  and  thus 
insured  a  seven  years'  peace  to  the  attempted  colony,  which 
was  only  disturbed  by  the  selfishness  of  individuals  ;  and 
}  Carroll's  Coll.,  289. 


UNDER  THE  PKOPRIBTARY  GOVERKMENT      93 

in  this  story  he  has  been  followed  by  other  historians  thus 
misled  by  him.^  But  Saunders,  in  his  prefatory  note  to 
the  first  volume  of  the  colonial  records  of  North  Caro- 
lina, points  out  the  inaccuracy  of  this  statement.  Sir  John, 
as  we  have  seen,  arrived  there  with  his  small  colony  in 
October,  1665,  but  abandoned  them  and  returned  immedi- 
ately to  Barbadoes  ;  where  he  was  a  member  of  the  King's 
Council,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  island 
during  the  years  of  his  supposed  benign  rule  at  Cape 
Fear. 

The  Barbadian  settlements  on  the  Cape  Fear  were,  in 
fact,  broken  up  in  the  summer  or  early  fall  of  1667  ;  the 
colonists  not  coming  to  South  Carolina,  as  stated  by  Chal- 
mers, but  going,  some  up  to  the  Albemarle  settlement 
and  some  to  Nansemond  County  in  part,  and  in  part  to 
Boston.2 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  No.  Ca.  (Rivers),  71. 

2  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  148-151,  157-159,  177-208. 


CHAPTER   IV 

In  the  early  part  of  1669  Lord  Ashley,  not  yet  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  assumed  a  leading  part  among  the 
Proprietors,  and  their  previous  indefinite  policy  in  regard 
to  the  colonies  was  abandoned  under  his  influence  for  a 
determined  course.  His  first  step  was  to  prepare  and 
formulate  a  plan  of  government  for  the  great  province 
they  were  to  found.  For  this  purpose  he  engaged  the 
assistance  of  his  friend,  the  celebrated  philosopher  John 
Locke,  who  was  then  living  with  him  at  Exeter  House, 
his  Lordship's  London  residence  as  his  private  secretary. 
The  result  of  their  collaboration  was  the  production  of 
the  famous  "  Fundamental  Constitutions  "  drawn  by  Locke 
in  March  of  that  year,  and  which,  with  some  modifications, 
were  solemnly  adopted  by  the  Proprietors  in  the  July 
following. 

This  most  extraordinary  scheme  of  forming  an  aristo- 
cratic government  in  a  colony  of  adventurers,  in  the  wild 
woods,  among  savages  and  wild  beasts  began  with  this 
formal  recital  : — 

"  Our  Soveregn  Lord  the  King  having  out  of  his  royal  grace  and 
bounty  granted  unto  us  the  Province  of  Carolina  with  all  the  royalties, 
properties,  jurisdictions  and  privileges  of  a  County  Palatine,  as  large 
and  ample  as  the  County  Palatine  of  Durham  with  other  great  Privi- 
ledges  for  the  better  settlement  of  the  government  of  the  said  place, 
and  establishing  the  interest  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  with  equality, 
and  without  confusion ;  and  that  the  government  of  the  Province  may 
be  made  most  agreeable  to  the  Monarchy  under  which  we  live  and  of 

94 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  95 

which  this  Province  is  a  part,  and  that  wejnqji  avoid  erecting  a  numerous 
democracy ;  we  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  the  Province  Aforesaid  have 
agreed  to  the  following  form  of  governments  to  be  perpetually  estab- 
lished amongst  us,  and  unto  which  we  do  oblige  ourselves,  our  heirs 
and  successors  in  the  most  binding  ways  that  can  be  devised."  ^ 

The  charter  constituted  the  province  a  County  Palatine. 
The  first  provision  necessary  therefore  was  to  determine 
who  should  be  the  Palatine.  The  first  clause  of  the  con- 
stitution accordingly  provided  that  the  eldest  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors  should  be  the  Palatine  ;  and  upon  his  decease 
the  eldest  of  the  seven  surviving  Proprietors  should  always 
succeed  him.  Then  seven  other  chief  officers  were  pro- 
vided, viz.  an  Admiral,  Chamberlain,  Chancellor,  Constable, 
Chief  Justice,  High  Steward,  and  Treasurer,  the  places  of 
which  should  be  enjoyed  by  none,  but  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors to  be  assigned  at  first  by  lot,  and  upon  the  vacancy  of 
any  one  of  these  seven  great  offices  by  death  or  otherwise 
the  oldest  Proprietor  should  have  his  choice  of  such  place. 

Seizing  upon  the  clause  in  the  charter  which  we  have 
traced  from  that  of  Sir  Robert  Heath,  which  empowered 
the  Proprietors  to  confer  marks  of  favor  and  titles  of 
honor  upon  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  province  as . 
they  should  think  fit,  and  as  this  instrument  expressed  i4;, 
in  order  that  the  government  might  be  made  most  agree- 
able to  monarchy  and  avoid  erecting  a  numerpus^emoc- 
racy,  the  whole  province  was  to  be  divided  into  counties ; 
each  county  into  eight  seigniories,  eigbt  baronies,  and  four 
precincts  ;  each  precinct  into]|ix  colonies.  These  terri- 
torial divisions  were  mad^!k^the  support  of  the  proposed 
aristocracy,  and  for  this  purpose  it  was  provided, 

"  4  Each  signory,  barony,  and  colony  shall  consist  of  twelve  thou- 
sand acres ;  the  eight  signories  being  the  share  of  the  eight  proprietors, 
and  the  eight  baronies  of  the  nobility ;  both  which  shares  being  each 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  43  ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 157. 


96  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

of  them  one  fifth  of  the  whole  are  to  be  perpetually  annexed,  the  one 
to  the  proprietors,  and  the  other  to  the  hereditary  nobility ;  leaving 
the  colonies,  being  three  fifths  among  the  people ;  so  that  in  setting 
out  and  planting  the  lands,  the  balance  of  the  government  may  be 
preserved." 

As  each  seigniory,  barony,  and  colony  contained  12,000 
acres,  each  county  was  made  to  contain  480,000  acres,  or 
750  square  miles.  Of  this  land  the  eight  Proprietors 
would  have  96,000  acres  ;  and  as  there  were  to  be  as 
many  Landgraves  as  counties,  and  twice  as  many  Caciques, 
each  Landgrave's  share  was  appointed  to  be  four  baronies, 
or  48,000  acres,  and  each  Cacique's  share  two  barpnies,  or 
24,000  acres.  There  were  left  three-fifths  of  each  county, 
or  288,000  acres,  for  the  people. ^ 

Until  the  year  1701  the  Proprietors  were  to  be  allowed 
to  dispose  each  of  his  proprietorship,  and  of  his  seigniories 
and  powers  ;  but  after  that  time  no  Proprietor  was  to  be 
allowed  to  alienate  his  proprietorship  with  its  seigniories, 
baronies,  and  privileges,  but  for  a  term  of  three  lives  or 
twenty-one  years  ;  and  that  only  to  the  extent  of  two- 
thirds,  the  remaining  third  to  be  always  in  demesne,  i.e. 
in  the  Proprietor's  own  actual  possession,  and  not  under 
lease  to  tenants.  The  proprietorship,  with  its  lands  and 
privileges,  was  to  descend  to  the  heirs  male,  and  for  want 
of  such  heirs,  to  a  Landgrave  or  Cacique  of  Carolina,  who 
was  descended  from  the  next  heirs  female  of  the  Proprie- 
tor ;  if  none,  to  the  next  heir  general  ;  and  for  want  of 
any  such  heirs  the  remaining  seven  Proprietors  were  au- 
thorized to  choose  a  Landgrave  to  succeed  to  the  deceased 
Proprietor;  and  it  was  required  that  whoever  succeeded 
a  Proprietor,  either  by  inheritance  or  choice,  should  take 
the  name  and  arms  of  the  Proprietor  whom  he  succeeded, 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  83. 


UNDER  THE  PROPKIETARY  GOVERNMENT      97 

which  should  thenceforth  be  the  name  and  arms  of  his 
family  and  their  posterity. 

Besides  the  Proprietors,  the  nobility  was  to  consist  of 
Landgraves  and  Caciques.  These  terms  were  chosen  be- 
cause by  the  provision  of  the  charter  it  was  required  that 
the  title  was  to  be  unlike  those  of  England.  The  title 
Landgrave  was  borrowed  from  the  old  German  courts  ; 
and  that  of  "Casique"  or  "Cacique"  from  the  style  of 
the  Indian  chiefs  of  America.  There  were  to  be  as  many 
Landgraves  as  there  were  counties,  and  twice  as  many 
Caciques,  and  no  more.  These  were  to  constitute  the 
hereditary  nobility  of  the  province,  and  by  right  of  their 
dignity  to  be  members  of  Parliament.  Each  Landgrave 
was  to  have  four  baronies,  and  each  Cacique  two  baronies 
hereditarily  and  unalterably  annexed  to  and  settled  upon 
the  dignity.  The  same  rules  of  alienation  and  descent  as 
to  the  lands  and  dignities  of  the  Landgraves  and  Caciques 
were  laid  down  as  were  prescribed  for  the  proprietorship. 

Besides  the  seigniory  of  the  Proprietor,  the  barony  of  the 
nobility,  and  the  colony  or  precinct  of  the  commons,  an- 
other subdivision  was  allowed,  —  that  of  the  manor,  which 
was  to  consist  of  not  less  than  3000  acres,  and  not  above 
12,000  in  one  entire  piece,  and  in  one  colony;  the  mere 
possession  by  one,  however,  of  such  a  tract  did  not  consti- 
tute it  a  manor  unless  it  was  so  ordered  by  a  Palatine 
Court.  A  lord  of  a  manor  within  his  own  manor  was  to 
have  all  the  powers,  jurisdictions,  and  privileges  which 
pertained  to  a  Landgrave  or  Cacique  in  his  barony. 

It  was  provided  that  "  In  every  signory,  barony  and 
manor  all  the  leet-men  shall  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  respective  lords  of  the  said  signory,  barony  or  manor 
without  appeal  from  him."  This  provision  was  a  revival 
and  adaptation  of  the  ancient  system  of  the  hundred,  under 
which  in  England  a  court-leet  was  held  once  a  year  Avithin 


98  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

each  particular  hundred,  lordship,  or  manor,  and  to  which 
court  all  the  freeholders  within  the  precinct  above  the 
age  of  twelve  and  under  sixty,  excepting  peers,  clerks  (i.e, 
clergy),  women,  and  aliens,  whether  masters  or  servants, 
owed  their  personal  suit  and  attendance,  and  were  to  be 
sworn  as  to  their  fealty  and  allegiance.  The  court-leet 
in  England  was  charged  with  the  preservation  of  the 
peace,  and  had  jurisdiction  over  small  offenders  against 
the  public  good.^ 

But  while  new  and  oppressive  provisions  were  imposed 
by  these  constitutions,  such  as  that  no  leet-man  or  leet- 
Avoman  should  have  liberty  to  go  off  from  the  land  of  his 
or  her  lord,  and  live  anywhere  else  without  leave  obtained 
from  the  said  lord  under  hand  and  seal ;  and  while  the 
existence  of  the  court-leet  was  at  least  impliedly  recog- 
nized in  the  provisions  that  the  lord  of  the  seigniory, 
barony,  or  manor  should  have  jurisdiction  without  appeal 
over  his  leet-men,  and  prescribing  that  no  one  should  be 
capable  of  having  a  court-leet  but  a  Proprietor,  Landgrave, 
Cacique,  or  lord  of  manor,  no  provision  was  made  for  the 
holding  of  such  courts,  but,  on  the  contrary,  their  organi- 
zation and  jurisdiction,  as  they  prevailed  in  England,  were 
given  to  County  and  Precinct  courts. 

Who  were  to  be  leet-men  was  not  declared  save  in 
the  clause  "whosoever  shall  voluntarily  enter  himself  a 
leet-man  in  the  registry  of  the  County  Court  shall  be  a 
leet-man."  The  only  inducement  held  out  for  one  thus 
voluntarily  to  put  himself  within  the  absolute  control  of 
his  lord  was  that  the  lord  should,  "  upon  the  marriage  of 
a  leet-man  or  leet-woman,  give  them  ten  acres  of  land  for 
their  lives,  they  paying  to  him  therefor  not  more  than  one- 
eighth  part  of  all  the  yearly  produce  and  growth  of  the 
said  ten  acres."  Could  the  framers  of  this  instrument, 
1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  IV,  273. 


tri^DE^   tHE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  99 

philosophers  or  statesmen,  suppose  that  for  the  rental  of 
those  few  acres  upon  marriage,  freemen  would  have  thus 
enslaved  themselves? 

Eight  Supreme  Courts  were  provided  ;  the  jurisdiction 
of  these  courts  was  legislative  as  well  as  judicial.  The 
first  was  the  Palatine  Court,  consisting  of  the  Palatine 
and  the  other  seven  Proprietors.  This  court  with  its  vice- 
regal power  corresponded  to  the  King  in  the  monarchy  of 
England,  but  with  even  greater  relative  power  in  its  lim- 
ited sphere.  It  was  the  source  of  all  law  and  the  final 
arbiter  of  justice.  The  other  seven  courts  each  consisted 
of  one  of  the  other  seven  great  officers  and  six  counsellors. 

To  the  Chancellor's  Court  belonged  all  matters  of  State 
and  treaties  with  the  neighboring  Indians,  all  invasions  of 
the  law  of  liberty  of  conscience,  and  all  invasions  of  the 
public  peace  upon  pretence  of  religion,  as  also  the  license 
and  control  of  printing. 

The  Chief  Justice's  Court  had  jurisdiction  of  all  ap- 
peals both  civil  and  criminal,  except  such  as  fell  under 
the  jurisdiction  and  cognizance  of  any  other  of  the  Pro- 
prietors' courts. 

The  Constable's  Court  had  the  order  and  determination 
of  all  military  affairs  by  land,  and  of  all  land  forces,  arms, 
ammunition,  and  whatever  belonged  unto  war. 

The  Admiral's  Court  had  the  powers  of  a  court  of 
admiralty,  with  power  to  appoint  judges  in  port  towns  to 
try  cases  belonging  to  the  law-merchants  as  should  be  most 
convenient  for  trade. 

The  Treasurer's  Court  was  charged  with  the  care  of  all 
matters  that  concern  the  public  revenue  and  treasury. 

The  High  Steward's  Court  had  the  care  of  all  foreign 
and  domestic  trade,  manufactures,  public  buildings,  work- 
houses, highways,  passages  by  water  above  the  flood  tide, 
drains,  sewers,  and  banks  against  inundations,  bridges, 


loo  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

posts,  carriers,  fairs,  markets,  corruption  or  infection  of 
the  air  or  water,  and  of  all  things  in  order  to  the  public 
commerce  and  health,  the  surveying  of  lands,  and  the 
appointing  places  for  towns. 

The  Chamberlain's  Court  had  the  care  of  all  ceremonies, 
precedency,  heraldry,  reception  of  public  messengers,  pedi- 
grees, the  registration  of  births,  burials,  and  marriages, 
legitimation,  and  all  cases  concerning  matrimony  ;  and 
had  power  also  to  regulate  all  fashions,  habits,  badges, 
games,  and  sports. 

There  was  to  be  a  Grand  Council  consisting  of  the 
Palatine,  seven  Proprietors,  and  the  forty-two  counsel- 
lors of  the  several  Proprietors'  courts,  which  should  have 
power  to  determine  any  controversy  that  might  arise  be- 
tween any  of  the  Proprietors'  courts  about  their  respective 
jurisdictions.  This  body  was  also  to  prepare  all  matters 
to  be  proposed  in  Parliament,  and  no  matter  whatsoever 
was  allowed  to  be  introduced  in  Parliament  which  had 
not  first  been  considered  by  it ;  after  which,  having  been 
read  three  several  days  in  Parliament,  it  was  by  majority 
of  votes  passed  or  rejected. ^  The  Grand  Council  was  to 
meet  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  month.  The  quorum  was 
but  thirteen,  whereof  a  Proprietor  or  his  deputy  should 
be  always  one.  The  Palatine  or  any  of  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors were  empowered  under  their  hands  and  seals  to 
be  registered  in  the  Grand  Council,  to  make  a  deputy 
who  should  have  the  same  power  to  all  intents  and  pur- 

1  The  precedent  for  this  provision  was  probably  found  in  that  of 
Poyning's  law  in  regard  to  Ireland,  of  1494  (the  great  bone  of  contention 
in  the  later  days  of  Flood  and  Grattan),  under  which  no  matter  could  be 
moved  or  considered  in  any  Parliament  of  Ireland  until  it  had  been  con- 
sidered, approved,  and  certified  under  the  great  seal  of  England.  By 
which  means  nothing  was  left  to  an  Irish  parliament  but  a  power  of  pass- 
ing or  rejecting  such  measures  as  were  proposed  to  them.  Blackstone's 
Cow.,  vol.  I,  Intro.,  §  4  ;  Green's  Hist,  of  the  English  People^  vol.  II,  73. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  101 

poses  as  he  who  deputed  him  except  the  confirming  acts 
of  Parliament  and  nominating  and  choosing  Landgraves 
and  Caciques.  The  eldest  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  who 
should  be  personally  in  Carolina  should,  of  course,  be  the 
Palatine  deputy.  .*,,,,,, 

County  and  Precinct  courts  were  f-FO-ficyd^^as  b^fcJrfe 
intimated,  for  the  trial  of  small  causes,  civil  andx)riii^in3,L. 
For  treason,  murder,  and  all  other  offencfes'  "punishable  lt>y' 
death,  a  commission  twice  a  year  at  least  was  to  be  granted 
to  one  or  more  members  of  the  Grand  Council  who  should 
come  as  itinerant  judges  to  the  several  counties,  and  with 
the  sheriff  and  four  justices  hold  assizes  to  judge  all  such 
cases.  From  the  Court  of  Assizes  an  appeal  was  allowed 
to  the  respective  Proprietors'  court,  but  only  upon  the 
payment  of  <£50  sterling  to  the  Lords  Proprietors'  use. 
These  courts  of  assize  were  to  be  held  quarterly,  not 
exceeding  twenty-one  days  at  any  one  time. 

None  but  freeholders  could  be  jurymen.  Every  jury 
was  to  consist  of  twelve  men,  but  it  was  not  necessary 
that  all  should  agree ;  the  verdict  was  to  be  rendered  ac- 
cording to  the  consent  of  the  majority.  There  was  then 
a  curious  provision  taken,  doubtless  by  Locke,  from  the 
Cincian  law  of  Rome,  which  declared  it  to  be  a  base  and 
vile  thing  to  plead  for  money  or  reward,  and  forbade  that 
any,  except  a  near  kinsman,  should  be  permitted  to  plead 
another's  cause  until  he  had  taken  an  oath  in  open  court 
that  he  had  not  directly  or  indirectly  bargained  with  the 
party  whose  cause  he  was  going  to  plead,  for  money  or 
other  reward. 

The  object  of  this  provision,  it  has  been  observed,  is 
manifest.  It  Avas  to  make  of  pleading  before  the  courts 
of  justice  a  patrician  privilege,  and  thus  secure  to  the 
governing  class  the  immense  influence  which  attaches  to 
the  administration  of  the  law.      And  the  result  would 


102  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

have  been  to  have  made  of  the  profession  a  class  within  a 
class,  invested  even  with  higher  power  and  more  extensive 
influence  than  the  body  to  which  it  belonged. ^ 

There  was  to  be  a  biennial  Parliament,  to  consist  of 
the  Proprietors,-  or  their  deputies,  the  Landgraves  and 
'•b^,Qiques\.'a^^'^ne'  freeholder  out  of  every  precinct,  to  be 
QhQsen^b^.the  freehoTders.  Like  the  ancient  Scotch  Par- 
•  li&iaeiit,*' all '^  were  tor  sit  together  in  one  room  and  each 
member  to  have  one  vote.  It  is  evident  that  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  commonalty  would  have  but  little  influ- 
ence in  such  a  body,  by  the  very  constitution  of  which 
they  were  in  a  hopeless  minority;  but  the  provision  that 
no  business  should  be  allowed  to  be  proposed  until  it  was 
debated  in  the  Grand  Council,  whose  duty  it  was,  like  the 
Lords  of  Articles  in  the  Scotch  constitution,  to  prepare 
bills  for  Parliament,  reduced  them  still  more  to  the  posi- 
tion of  mere  witnesses  to  the  action  of  others  whose  pro- 
ceedings they  could  not  control. 

The  freeholders  of  the  respective  precincts  were  to  meet 
to  choose  Parliament  men  every  two  years  at  the  same 
place  unless  the  steward  of  the  precinct,  upon  proper 
notice,  appointed  some  other  place.  The  manner  of  these 
elections  was  not  prescribed  ;  but  without  doubt  they  were 
intended  to  be  by  poll,  as  it  was  especially  provided  that 
all  elections  in  the  Parliament  itself,  in  the  several  cham- 
bers of  the  Parliament,  and  in  the  Grand  Council  should 
b«  by  balloting.  As  far  as  is  known,  however,  no  election 
ever  took  place  in  South  Carolina  except  by  ballot. 

To  avoid  a  multiplicity  of  laws  which  it  was  said 
by  degrees  always  change  the  right  foundations  of  the 
original  government,  all  acts  of  Parliament,  it  was  pro- 
vided, should,  at  the  end  of  a  hundred  years  after  their 

1  Oration  of  William  Henry  Trescot,  before  Historical  Society,  Coll. 
Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  IH,  28. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  103 

enactment,  "cease  and  determine,"  i.e.  come  to  an  end  of 
themselves  without  repeal.  And  since,  continued  these 
wise  lawmakers,  multiplicity  of  comments,  as  well  as  of 
laws,  have  great  inconveniences,  and  serve  only  to  obscure 
and  perplex,  all  manner  of  comments  and  expositions  on 
any  part  of  these  Fundamental  Constitutions  or  upon  any 
part  of  the  common  or  statute  laws  of  Carolina  are  abso- 
lutely prohibited. 

A  registry  was  provided  in  every  seigniory,  barony,  and 
colony,  wherein  were  to  be  recorded  all  births,  marriages, 
and  deaths.  The  time  of  every  one's  age  that  is  born  in 
Carolina,  it  was  declared,  should  be  reckoned  from  the 
day  that  his  birth  is  entered  in  the  registry^  and  not  before. 
No  marriage  was  lawful  until  both  parties  owned  it  be- 
fore the  Register.  No  administration  upon  the  goods  of  a 
deceased  person  was  allowed  until  his  death  was  regis- 
tered. Neglect  to  register  a  birth  or  death  subjected  the 
person  in  whose  house  or  ground  the  birth  or  death  took 
place  to  a  fine  of  one  shilling  per  week.  The  births,  mar- 
riages, and  deaths  of  the  Lords  Proprietors,  Landgraves, 
and  Caciques  were  to  be  registered  in  the  Chamberlain's 
Court. 

All  incorporated  towns  were  to  be  governed  by  a  mayor, 
twelve  aldermen,  and  twenty-four  of  the  common  council ; 
the  common  council  to  be  chosen  by  the  householders  of 
the  town,  the  aldermen  to  be  chosen  out  of  the  common 
council,  and  the  mayor  out  of  the  aldermen  by  the  Pala- 
tine's Court. 

The  provisions  in  regard  to  religion  were  also  remark- 
able. It  was  especially  provided  that  "  no  man  shall  be 
permitted  to  be  a  freeman  of  Carolina,  or  to  have  any 
estate  or  habitation  within  that  doth  not  acknowledge  a 
G-od^  and  that  God  is  publicly  and  solemnly  to  be  wor- 
shiped."    But  as  it  was  expected  that  those  who  would 


104  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

plant  themselves  in  the  new  colony  would  unavoidably  be 
of  different  opinions  concerning  religious  matters,  the  next 
article  went  on  to  provide  that  "  any  seven  or  more  persons 
agreeing  in  any  religion  should  constitute  a  profession 
to  which  they  should  give  some  name."  The  terms  of 
admittance  and  communion  with  any  such  church  or  pro- 
fession were  to  be  written  in  a  book,  and  subscribed  by 
all  the  members,  and  the  book  be  kept  by  the  public 
Register.  These  terms  were  to  comprise  three,  with- 
out which  no  agreement  or  assembly  of  men  should  be 
accounted  a  church  or  profession  within  the  rules. 
These  were  :  — 

"1st.  That  there  is  a  God. 

2d.  That  God  is  publickly  to  be  worshiped. 

3d.  That  it  is  lawful  and  the  duty  of  every  man  being  thereunto 
called  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  and  that  every  church  or  profession 
shall  in  these  terms  of  communion  set  down  the  eternal  way  whereby 
they  witness  a  truth  as  in  the  presence  of  God  whether  it  be  by  laying 
hands  on  or  kissing  the  bible,  as  in  the  church  of  fingland  or  by  hold- 
ing up  the  hand,  or  any  other  sensible  way." 

In  the  copy  of  these  constitutions  to  be  found  in  the 
Statutes  of  South  Carolina  tiiere  appears  the  following  :  — 

"96'  (As  the  country  comes  to  be  sufficiently  planted,  and  distrib- 
uted into  fit  divisions,  it  shall  belong  to  the  Parliament  to  take  care 
for  the  building  of  churches  and  the  public  maintenance  of  divines, 
to  be  employed  in  the  exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the  Church 
of  England;  which  being  the  only  true  and  orthodox,  and  the  national 
religion  of  all  the  King's  dominions  is  so  also  of  Carolina,  and  therefore 
it  alone  shall  be  allowed  to  receive  public  maintenance  by  grant  of 
Parliament)." 

In  a  note  to  these  constitutions  appended  to  Locke's 
works,  it  is  said  that  this  article  was  not  drawn  up  by 
him,  but  inserted  by  some  of  the  chief  of  the  Proprietors 
against  his  judgment,  as  Locke  himself  informed  his 
friends  to  whom  he  presented  a  copy  of  them.^  But 
1  Locke's  works  (4th  ed.,  MDCCLIX),  vol.  Ill,  376. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  105 

Anderson,  in  his  history  of  the  colonial  church,  observes 
that  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  grounds  on  which 
such  an  objection,  if  made,  could  have  been  rested.  For 
if  it  be  true,  it  was  nothing  else  than  objecting  to  a 
corollary  inevitably  deduced  from  the  terms  of  the  only 
instrument  which  gave  to  the  Proprietors  or  to  any  one 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  Carolina  the  right  to  legislate 
therefor.  He  points  out  also  that  the  statement  does  not 
altogether  agree  with  another  made  in  a  history  of  Locke's 
life  prefixed  to  his  works,  i.e.  that  it  was  inserted  not  by 
the  influence  of  any  of  the  Proprietors,  but  because  some 
of  the  clergy,  jealous  of  the  other  liberal  provisions  in 
regard  to  religion  contained  in  the  other  clauses  of  the 
constitution,  expressed  their  disapprobation  and  procured 
the  insertion  of  this  article.  The  point  of  this  argument 
is  that  when  Locke  undertook  to  draw  this  body  of  laws, 
he  necessarily  consented  and  undertook  to  draw  them  so 
as  to  conform  to  the  requirements  of  the  Royal  charter, — 
the  authority  upon  which  they  must  ultimately  rest,  and  by 
which  they  must  be  controlled,  —  and  that  as  that  charter 
of  itself  established  the  church,  the  constitution  to  be  pre- 
pared by  him  must  necessarily  have  provided  for  carrying 
out  that  purpose.^ 

A  manuscript  copy  of  the  constitution,  still  to  be  found 
in  the  Charleston  Library,  which  tradition  asserts  to  be 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  celebrated  draftsman,  Locke 
himself,  bearing  date  the  21st  of  July,  1669,  does  not 
contain  this  clause.  The  historian  Rivers  does  not,  how- 
ever, believe  this  manuscript  to  be  Locke's,  but  considers 
it  a  transcript  sent  out  with  Sayle.^     However  interesting 

1  Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Church,  vol.  I,  321-323. 

2  In  this  Mr.  Rivers  is  corroborated  by  Mr.  W.  Noel  Sainsbury,  assist- 
ant keeper  of  the  public  records  in  the  State  paper  office,  London,  the 
best  authority  upon  the  subject,  who  writes,  December,  1875:  "After 


106  HISTOBY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

this  question  may  be  historically,  involving  as  it  does  the 
existence  of  the  very  paper  upon  which  the  province  of 
Carolina  was  founded,  and  its  preservation  upon  the  spot 
on  which  it  was  first  read  and  attempted  to  be  put  in 
force,  now  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  years  ago,  the 
presence  or  absence  of  this  clause  in  the  constitution  was 
not  a  matter  affecting  the  government  of  the  colony,  inas- 
much as  its  purpose  was  already  carried  out  in  the  Royal 
charter  itself  by  which  the  Church  of  England  was  estab- 
lished as  the  church  of  the  province.  It  is  curious  to  ob- 
serve, however,  as  illustrating  the  early  disregard  by  the 
Proprietors  of  the  terms  of  their  charter  which  became 
habitual,  that  the  reason  they  allege  for  the  establishment 
of  the  church  is  not  that  it  is  so  already  prescribed  in 
that  instrument  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  their  title,  but 
because  it  is  the  only  true  and  orthodox  and  national 
religion,  and  is,  therefore,  alone  to  receive  public  main- 
tenance. The  fact  is  that  the  liberality  of  the  constitutions 
themselves,  for  which  Locke  has  been  praised,  was  en- 
joined by  the  Royal  charter  which  prohibited  the  inter- 
ference with  or  punishment  of  any  for  difference  in  opinion 
or  practice  in  matters  of  religious  concurment  which  did 
not  disturb  the  civil  peace  of  the  province. 

Passing  from  these  provisions  to  secure  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  others  to  protect  the  native  Indian  and  to 
give  him  an  opportunity  to  learn  for  himself  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  Christian  religion  and  the  peaceableness 
and  unoffensiveness  of  its  professors  by  their  good  usage  L 
and  persuasion,  —  precepts  which  all  European  colonists 
habitually  disregarded  and  atrociously  violated,  —  these' 

comparing  very  carefully  the  Charleston  fac-simile  herewith  returned, 
with  Shaftesbury  MS.  and  with  many  other  papers  in  Locke's  handwrit- 
ing, I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  in  Locke's  handwriting,  but  that  it 
is  a  cotemporary  copy."     MS.  letter,  Charleston  Library. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  107 

constitutions  drawn  by  him  who,  in  a  subsequent  treatise 
on  government,  approves  the  doctrine  that  slavery  was 
but  a  state  of  warfare  continued,^  proceed  to  enjoin  that 
"  every  freeman  of  Carolina  shall  have  absolute  power  and 
authority  over  his  negro  slave  of  what  opinion  or  religion 
soever."  The  full  significance  of  this  provision  we  shall 
have  occasion  hereafter  to  disclose  when  we  come  to  treat 
of  the  institution  of  African  slavery  in  the  colony. ^  For 
the  present  it  is  enough  to  observe  that  the  existence  of 
the  institution  as  a  rightful  and  legal  one  was  thus  recog- 
nized, and  provision  made  in  advance  for  its  introduction 
into  the  province. 

In  order  firmly  to  establish  and  maintain  these  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  it  was  provided  that  a  true  copy  of 
them  should  be  kept  in  a  great  book,  by  the  register  of 
every  precinct,  and  that  no  person  of  what  degree  or 
condition  soever  above  seventeen  years  old  should  have 
any  estate  or  possession  in  Carolina,  or  protection  or 
benefit  of  the  law,  who  did  not  subscribe  a  pledge  with  his 
utmost  power  to  defend  and  maintain  them. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  preparing  and  adopting  these 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  the  Proprietors  were  oblivi- 
ous of  the  essential  fact  that  under  the  Royal  charter, 
by  which  alone  they  could  prescribe  constitutions  and 
laws  for  the  province  which  had  been  granted  them,  it  had 
been  expressly  prescribed  that  such  laws  could  only  be 
enacted  ''by  and  with  the  advice  assent  and  approbation 
of  the  Freemen  of  the  said  Province  or  of  their  delegates 
or  deputies."  Was  it  likely  that  such  freemen  would  ever 
consent  to  the  establishment  of   a   form   of  government 

1  Locke's  works,  vol.  II,  173. 

2  See  "  Slavery  in  the  Province  of  South  Carolina,  1670-1770,"  by 
Edward  McCrady,  Annual  Beport  of  the  American  Histoncal  Associa- 
tion, 1896,  652-654. 


108  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  chief  scope  and  object  of  which  was  to  transfer 
the  rights  which  had  been  secured  them  by  the  Royal 
charter  to  an  aristocracy  over  whom  they  could  have  no 
control  ?  Such  a  doubt  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to 
the  Proprietors.  Still  more  strange  does  this  appear 
wlien  we  consider  that  these  Proprietors  were  seeking  to 
induce  emigrants  to  settle  in  their  new  province  rather 
than  in  the  older  colonies,  which  were  guaranteeing  to  all 
such  liberty  and  equality.  We  must  remember,  however, 
that  it  was  about  this  time  that  Sir  William  Berkeley,  one 
of  their  body,  then  in  America,  as  Governor  of  Virginia, 
on  the  eve  of  Bacon's  Rebellion,  concluded  a  report  upon 
that  colony  with  the  famous  declaration  :  "  I  thank  God 
that  there  are  no  free  schools,  no  printing,  and  I  hope  we 
shall  not  have  these  hundred  years;  for  learning  has 
brought  disobedience  into  the  world,  and  printing  has 
divulged  them  and  libels  against  the  best  governments.  "^ 
These  constitutions  doubtless  expressed  the  reactionary 
sentiment  of  the  Restoration.  It  will  be  made  to  appear 
in  the  course  of  this  work  that  South  Carolina  was  fore- 
most in  her  efforts  to  establish  free  schools  and  to  provide 
for  the  education  of  her  children,  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich,  yet  in  this  the  first  body  of  laws  proposed  for  her 
government  by  absentee  Lords,  though  devised  and  framed 
by  a  student  and  a  philosopher,  there  was  no  mention, 
even,  of  a  school.  Public  schools  were  not  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  England  or  elsewhere,  and 
it  is  evident  from  his  essay  on  education  written  twenty- 
four  years  after  that  Locke  was  even  then  opposed  to  the 
gathering  together  of  youths  in  schools,  holding  that  this 
manner  of  education  was  more  productive  of  forwardness, 
mischief,  and  vice  than  of  learning  and  the  graces.^ 

1  Virginia,  American  Commonwealth  Series  (Cooke),  226. 

2  Locke's  works,  vol.  Ill,  Thoughts  concerning  Education,  70. 


TODER   THE  PROPRtETARY  GOVERNMENT  l09 

The  whole  scheme  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions 
was  visionary,  crude,  incomplete,  and  impracticable.  For  a 
province  yet  to  be  settled,  in  which  society  must  build  itself 
up  from  its  very  foundation,  at  first  at  least,  beginning  in 
its  simplest  and  rudest  forms,  an  elaborate  and  intricate 
system  of  government  was  provided,  among  the  regulations 
for  which  it  was  deemed  opportune  to  establish  a  court 
of  heraldry  with  power  to  regulate  fashions,  games,  and 
sports.  It  is  difficult  to  use  the  language  of  moderation 
in  discussing  the  provision  prohibiting  comments  or  ex- 
positions of  the  law,  upon  the  ground  that  such  would  tend 
to  obscure  and  perplex  its  text.  No  less  preposterous  was 
that  declaring  that  one's  age  should  be  reckoned  only 
from  the  day  on  which  his  birth  was  registered,  and  not 
from  that  on  which  he  was  born.  It  is  hard  to  realize 
that  the  author  of  the  Two  Treatises  on  Government  of 
1689  could  have  been  the  designer  and  framer  of  the  Fun- 
damental Constitutions  of  Carolina  in  1669.  But  there 
was  twenty  years'  difference  between  the  times  in  which 
they  were  composed,  and  though  in  that  time  the  philoso- 
pher had  not  risen  to  the  conception  of  a  school  system 
for  the  new  country,  he  had  experienced  the  frowns  of 
restored  royalty  and  had  followed  his  patron  to  Holland ; 
for  thither  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  had  only  escaped  with 
his  life  from  the  tower  and  there,  like  his  co-proprietor 
Clarendon,  with  whom,  he  had  quarrelled  and  against 
whom  he  had  intrigued,  Shaftesbury  was  to  die  in  exile. 

In  the  dedication  of  a  collection  of  several  of  Locke's 
pieces  published  under  the  direction  of  Anthony  Collins, 
the  writer  discussing  the  relative  advantages  which  are 
possessed  by  a  philosopher  over  a  courtier  or  politician  in 
the  preparation  of  such  a  work,  it  is  said  that  though  some 
may  be  of  opinion  that  in  the  matters  of  state  the  politician 
ought  to  have  the  preference,  this  will  not  in  the  least 


110  itlStORY   bF   SOUTrt   CAROttNA 

diminish  the  value  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  since 
not  only  a  philosopher,  but  a  politician  of  the  first  rank, 
was  concerned  in  them.^  It  is  well  that  Shaftesbury's 
reputation,  we  will  not  say  as  a  politician  but  as  a  states- 
man, and  Locke's  as  a  philosopher,  rest  upon  other  works 
than  this  extraordinary  product  of  their  joint  labors. 

Regarding  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  as  fully  es- 
tablished,—  though  the  consent  of  the  freemen  had  not 
been  obtained,  —  the  Proprietors  then  resident  in  England 
proceeded  to  establish  a  government  under  them.  On 
the  21st  of  October,  1669,  they  met  at  the  Cockpitt  to  or- 
ganize the  Palatine's  Court,  whereupon  as  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon  was  in  exile,  deserted  by  his  Royal  master. 
Monk,  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  was  elected  the  first  Pala- 
tine ;  the  Earl  of  Craven,  the  first  High  Constable  ;  the 
Lord  Berkeley,  the  first  Chancellor  ;  the  Lord  Ashley,  the 
first  Chief  Justice ;  Sir  George  Carteret,  the  first  Admiral. 
Sir  John  Colleton  had  died  in  1666,  leaving  Sir  Peter,  his 
son,  his  heir,  so  the  latter  was  chosen  the  first  High 
Steward. 2  Sir  William  Berkeley,  as  has  been  mentioned, 
was  in  America  as  Governor  of  Virginia.  In  this  in  the 
outset  there  was  constituted  an  anomaly.  The  scheme  of 
the  constitution  was  that  of  a  government  of  different 
parts,  but  of  one  system  —  a  system  of  government  for  the 
province,  and  presumably  to  be  carried  on  in  the  province. 
But  the  Palatine's  Court  was  thus  in  the  initiation  of  the 
government  established  in  London. 

This  body  of  laws  never  received  the  necessary  assent 
and  approbation  of  the  freemen  of  the  province,  and  so 
was  never  constitutionally  of  force  ;  but  though  not  hav- 
ing the  formal  sanction  of  the  charter,  it  is  undoubtedly 
true   that   its  provisions  had  a  marked  effect  upon  the 

1  Locke's  works,  vol.  Ill,  652. 

2  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  179. 


UNDER  THE  l»ROf RIETARY  GOVERNMENT  HI 

institutions  of  the  colony  and  impressed  upon  the  peo- 
ple, and  upon  their  customs  and  habits,  much  of  the  tone 
and  temper  of  its  spirit.  Seigniories,  baronies,  colonies, 
and  manors  were  actually  laid  out,  and  Landgraves  and 
Caciques  appointed,  some  of  whom  took  possession  of  their 
baronies.  Some  tracts  of  land  in  the  lower  part  of  South 
Carolina  still,  in  part  at  least,  bear  the  names  then  given 
them ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Colleton  Barony,  the 
Wadboo  Barony,  the  Broughton  Barony,  etc.  The  power 
to  confer  titles  of  honor  under  the  charter,  it  will  be 
observed,  restricted  the  bestowal  of  them  upon  ^^such  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  said  Province  "  as  the  Proprietors 
should  think  merited  the  honor ;  but  the  Proprietors  dis- 
regarded the  restriction,  and  bestowed  them  upon  persons 
who  had  never  been  in  the  colony.  Thus,  for  instance, 
John  Locke  himself  Avas  the  first  Landgrave  made. 
There  is  no  record  that  Landgraves  James  Carteret, 
Thomas  Amy,  John  Price,  Abel  Kettleby,  or  Edward 
Jauks  (or  Jenks)  or  Thomas  Lowndes  were  ever  in 
Carolina.  By  the  constitutions  the  eldest  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors,  who  should  be  personally  present  in  Carolina, 
was  thereby  in  fact  the  deputy  of  the  Palatine,  and  if  no 
Proprietor  nor  heir  apparent  of  a  Proprietor  should  be 
here,  then  the  Palatine  should  choose  for  deputy  any  one 
of  the  Landgraves  of  the  Grand  Council  who  should  be  in 
the  colony.  It  was  probably  to  meet  the  provision  of  the 
constitutions  that  all  or  nearly  all  the  Governors  under 
the  Proprietors  were  made  Landgraves,  and  thus  became 
deputies  of  the  Palatine.  Besides  the  Governors,  but 
three  or  four  Carolinians,  i.e.  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
were  deemed  worthy  of  being  appointed  Landgraves.^ 
By  the  constitution  Landgraves  and  Caciques  were  not 

1  See  Appendix  for  Devolutions  of  Proprietary  shares  and  list  of  Pala- 
tines, Landgraves,  Caciques,  and  also  of  Governors. 


11^  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLII^A 

allowed  after  the  year  1701  to  alienate  or  assign  their 
dignities,  and  yet  Thomas  Lowndes  in  1728  procured  a 
patent  as  assignee  of  John  Price,  neither  having  ever  been 
in  the  province.^ 

The  Proprietors  were  sensible,  however,  that  such  an 
elaborate  scheme  of  government  could  not  be  put  into 
immediate  operation,  and  though  for  thirty  years  they 
persisted  in  their  efforts  to  impose  its  provisions  upon  the 
province,  they  found  it  necessary  in  sending  out  their 
first  colony  to  provide  some  temporary  laws  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  adventurers  who  composed  it.  These 
rules  were  embodied  in  the  commission  and  instruction 
of  the  Governor. 

1  Coll.  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  174. 


CHAPTER  V 

1669-70 

The  failure  of  the  colony  at  Cape  Fear  and  the 
glowing  account  which  Sandford  had  given  of  the 
country  at  Port  Royal  turned  the  attention  of  the  Pro- 
prietors to  the  latter  point,  and  induced  them  to  devote 
tlieir  efforts  to  the  establishment  of  a  settlement  there. 
In  1667  they  fitted  out  a  ship,  gave  the  command  of  iTTo 
Captain  William  Sayle,  and  sent  him  out  to  bring  them 
some  further  account  of  the  coast.  In  his  passage 
Captain  Sayle  was  driven  by  a  storm  among  the  Bahama 
Islands,  which  accident  he  improved  to  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  some  knowledge  of  them,  particularly  of  the 
Island  of  Providence,  which  he  judged  might  be  of  service 
to  the  intended  settlement  of  Carolina  ;  for  in  case  of  an 
invasion  from  the  Spaniards,  this  island  fortified  might 
be  made  to  serve  as  a  check  to  the  progress  of  their  arms 
or  a  place  of  retreat  to  unfortunate  colonists.  Leaving 
Providence,  he  sailed  along  the  coast  of  Carolina,  where 
he  observed  several  large  navigable  rivers  emptying  them- 
selves into  the  ocean,  and  a  flat  country  covered  with 
woods.  He  attempted  to  go  ashore  in  his  boat,  but  ob- 
serving some  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  river  he  was 
deterred;  and  having  explored  the  coast  and  mouths  of 
the  rivers,  he  took  his  departure  and  returned  to  England. 
Why  he  was  so  easily  frightened  by  the  Indians  does  not 
more  particularly  appear  ;  but  though  he  did  not  land, 
I  113 


114  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  OAROLIKA 

he  made  a  most  favorable  report  to  his  employers,  praised 
their  possessions,  and  encouraged  them  to  engage  with 
vigor  in  the  execution  of  their  project.  His  report 
respecting  the  Bahama  Islands  induced  the  Proprietors  to 
apply  to  the  King  for  a  grant  of  them  also,  and  his 
Majesty  added  those  between  the  twenty-second  and 
twenty-seventh  degrees  to  their  former  dominion. ^ 

No  longer  depending  upon  the  attempts  at  colonization 
from  Barbadoes  alone,  arrangements  were  now  made  to 
send  out  an  expedition  to  Port  Royal  which  was  to  be 
composed  of  emigrants  from  England,  reinforced  by  others 
from  Ireland,  Barbadoes,  and  Bermuda.  By  articles  of 
agreement  signed  by  all  the  Proprietors,  each  undertook 
to  contribute  £500,  equal  at  that  time  probably  to  about 
.£2000  or  £2500  of  present  money ,2  to  be  laid  out  in  ship- 

1  He  watt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  47,  48. 

2  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  purchasing  power  of  money,  i.  e.  its 
value,  while  constantly  fluctuating,  was  formerly  much  greater  than  at 
present.  Adam  Smith  states  that  during  the  sixteenth  and  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  it  fell  to  about  a  fourth  of  what  it  had  been 
previously,  so  that  the  heirs  of  one  who  had  bought  a  perpetual  annuity 
in  1490  of  £  100  a  year  were  not  receiving  in  reality,  in  1650,  more  than 
£25  in  comparison  with  that  of  1490.  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  IV,  213. 
Froude  estimated  for  the  same  time,  i.e.  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  that  for 
a  penny  a  laborer  could  buy  as  much  beef,  beer,  and  wine  as  the  laborer 
of  the  nineteenth  century  could  for  a  shilling ;  that  is,  that  the  purchas- 
ing power  of  a  penny  was  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  twelve  times  of  the 
value  it  maintained  when  he  wrote.  History  of  England,  vol.  I,  34.  These 
estimates  do  not  exactly  coincide,  but  they  agree  in  the  fact  of  the  gi-eat 
depreciation  of  money  value.  Mr.  Alexander  Brown,  in  his  Genesis  of 
the  United  States,  810,  estimates  the  subscriptions  to  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany, 1610-20,  at  from  four  to  five  times  the  present  value  of  the 
pound  sterling,  making  the  pound  at  that  time  equal  to  $20  to  $25  of 
our  present  currency.  This  estimate  has  been  adopted  by  Mr.  Bruce  in 
his  Economical  History  of  Virginia,  vol.  I,  28,  vol.  II,  172,247,  249,  etc., 
as  a  rough  measure  of  the  value  of  the  pound  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
This  may  be  accepted  as  approximately  correct,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  value  of  money,  while  generally  depreciating,  was  subject 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  116 

ping,  arms,  ammunition,  tools,  and  provisions  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Port  Royal,  and  a  further  sum  of  X 200  per  annum 
for  the  next  four  years.  It  was  further  agreed  that  any 
Proprietor  neglecting  or  refusing  to  pay  in  any  of  the 
said  sums  should  relinquish  and  convey  his  share  to  the 
rest  of  the  Proprietors.  A  fleet  of  three  ships  was  pur- 
chased at  a  cost  of  £3200  16«.  6d. ;  viz.  the  Carolina, 
Captain  Henry  Braine  master,^  —  the  same  who  had 
accompanied  Sandford  in  his  voyage  to  Port  Royal,  the 
Port  RoyaU  John  Russell  master,  and  the  Albemarle, 
Edward  Baxter  master.  These  vessels  were  laden  with 
stores,  merchandise,  munitions  of  war,  and  all  equipments 
necessary  for  planting  a  colony  of  two  hundred  people  ; 
a  number  which  was  believed  would  be  strong  enough  for 
self-protection  and  to  make  a  permanent  settlement.^ 

On  the  27th  of  July,  1669,  Mr.  Joseph  West  was 
appointed  Governor  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the  fleet 
and  of  the  persons  embarked  in  it  bound  for  Carolina 
until  its  arrival  ip^Barbadoes,  or  until  another  Governor 
was  appointed.  jMr.  West's  instructions  accompanying 
his  commission  as^  Governor  directed  him  with  all  possible 
speed  to  sail  for  Kinsale  in  Ireland,  where  he  was  to  pro- 
cure twenty  or  twenty-five  servants,  and  then  to  sail 
directly  to  Barbadoes.  God  sending  the  fleet  safe  to 
Barbadoes,  Mr.  West  was  there  to  furnish  himself  with 

to  continuous  fluctuation  as  it  is  to-day.  In  this  instance  we  think  the 
value  of  the  money  agreed  to  be  contributed  by  the  Proprietors  may  with 
some  certainty  be  accepted  as  stated  in  the  text  as  from  four  to  five  of 
the  present  value  of  the  pound. 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury,  London,  1859),  Preface 
and  54,  55,  99. 

In  Sandford' s  account  of  his  voyage  the  name  is  spelled  Brayne,  as 
in  the  third  chapter  of  this  work. 

"^Shaftesbury  Papers;  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay), 
1883,  365  ;  Oldmixon,  Carolina. 


116  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLIKA 

cotton  seed,  indigo  seed,  ginger  roots,  which  roots  he  was 
to  carry  planted  in  a  tub  of  earth  so  that  they  might  not 
die  before  their  arrival  at  Port  Royal ;  also,  in  another  tub, 
he  was  to  carry  canes,  planted  for  trial,  also  the  several 
sorts  of  vines  of  that  island,  and  olives,  all  of  which 
would  be  procured  by  Mr.  Thomas  Colleton,  to  whom  the 
fleet  was  consigned.  The  most  minute  instructions  were 
also  given  for  his  conduct  at  Port  Royal,  —  the  clearing 
of  the  lands,  building  of  houses,  planting  the  seeds,  and 
the  chre  of  cattle  which  were  to  be  procured  from  Vir- 
ginia. jHe  was  to  take  from  Barbadoes  half  a  dozen 
youn^sows  and  a  boar,  which  were  to  be  furnished  by 
Mr.'^Thomas  Colleton  if  his  own  funds  were  not  sufficient. 
Mr.  John  Rivers,  who  was  to  go  out  as  the  agent  of  Lord 
Ashley,  was  to  take  charge  of  the  storehouse  containing 
the  materials  of  war,  and  to  give  them  out  only  as  directed 
by  the  Governor  and  Council.  Captain  Henry  Braine  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  West  until  the  arrival  of 
the  fleet  at  Barbadoes,  when  he  was  to  obey  the  Governor 
to  be  appointed,  and  to  return  from  Port  Royal  to  Barba- 
does, or  to  go  to  Virginia,  as  he  should  be  directed  by 
Sir  John  Yeamans,  Mr.  Thomas  Colleton,  and  Major 
Kingsland.  If  he  was  sent  to  Virginia,  he  was  then  to 
take  in  passengers  and  other  freight  for  Port  Royal. ^ 

Sir  John  Yeamans,  though  actively  engaged  in  the 
political  affairs  of  Barbadoes,  still  bore  the  commission  of 
Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Carolina,  but  his 
ill  success  with  his  colony  at  Cape  Fear  had  cooled  the 
fervor  of  the  Proprietors,  and,  though  they  recommended 
the  expedition  to  his  care  and  assistance,  did  not  directly 
reappoint  him  its  Governor,  but  sent  a  blank  commission 
to  be  filled  by  him  according  to  circumstances. ^    With  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  92,  and  Appendix,  342-346. 

2  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston,  1883  (Courtenay),  368. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  117 

commission  in  blank  were  also  sent  deputations  from  the 
Proprietors  respectively,  also  in  blank,  to  be  filled  as 
was  the  Governor's.  The  deputies  to  be  thus  appointed 
were  to  form  the  Governor's  Council,  and  for  their 
guidance  instructions  were  annexed  to  the  commissions 
and  deputations. 

These  instructions  ^  began  with  the  observation  that  as 
the  number  of  people  to  be  set  down  at  Port  Royal  would 
be  so  small,  and  as  there  were  as  yet  no  Landgraves  and 
Caciques,  it  would  not  be  possible  to  put  the  grand  model 
of  government  at  once  into  practice.  Notwithstanding 
this,  however,  in  order  that  they  might  come  as  nigh  as 
possible  thereto  the  Governor  and  Council  were  instructed  : 

1.  As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  Port  Royal  they  were  to 
summon  all  the  freemen  in  the  colony  and  require  them 
to  elect  five  persons,  who,  being  joined  to  the  five  deputed 
by  the  respective  Proprietors,  were  to  be  the  Council,  Avith 
whose  advice  and  consent,  or  of  at  least  six  of  them,  all 
being  summoned,  they  were  to  govern  according  to  the 
instructions,  and  to  put  in  practice  what  they  could  of 
their  Fundamental  Constitutions. 

2.  They  were  required  to  cause  all  the  persons  so  chosen 
to  swear  allegiance  to  the  King,  and  to  subscribe  fidelity 
and  submission  to  the  Proprietors  and  to  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment by  them  established. 

3.  The  Governor  and  Council  were  to  choose  some  fit- 
ting place  wherein  to  build  a  fort ;  under  the  protection 
of  which  was  to  be  the  first  town.  The  streets  of  the 
town  were  to  be  so  arranged  as  to  be  commanded  by  the 
guns  on  the  fort. 

4.  The  stores  of  all  kinds  were  to  be  kept  within  the 
fort. 

5.  If   the  first  town  was  placed  upon  an  island,  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  347. 


118  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

whole  island  was  to  be  divided  into  colonies  and  reserved 
for  the  people,  and  no  seigniory  or  barony  was  to  be  taken 
up  in  it.  But  if  the  first  town  was  planted  on  the  main, 
then  the  next  six  adjoining  squares  of  12,000  acres  were 
to  be  all  colonies,  so  that  the  people  might  first  be  planted 
together  in  convenient  numbers. 

6.  In  order  to  avoid  offending  the  Indians,  no  one  was 
to  be  allowed  to  take  up  land  within  two  miles  and  a  half 
of  any  Indian  town. 

7.  The  Governor  and  Council  were  to  establish  such 
courts  as  they  should  think  fit  for  the  administration  of 
justice  till  the  grand  model  of  government  could  be  put 
into  operation. 

8.  They  were  to  summon  the  freeholders  of  the  colony 
and  to  require  them  to  elect  twenty  persons,  who,  together 
with  the  deputies,  were  for  the  present  to  be  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  by  and  with  whose  consent  the  Governor  was 
to  make  such  laws  as  he  should  from  time  to  time  find 
necessary,  which  laws,  being  ratified  by  the  Governor  and 
any  three  of  his  five  deputies,  were  to  be  in  force,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  that  is,  until 
passed  upon  by  the  Palatine's  court  in  England. 

9.  All  persons  above  the  age  of  sixteen  years  who 
should  come  to  Port  Royal  to  plant  or  settle  there,  before 
the  25th  of  March,  1670,  were  to  be  granted  150  acres  of 
land  for  themselves,  and  150  acres  more  for  every  able 
man-servant  they  brought  with  them  or  caused  to  be 
transported  into  the  colony,  and  100  acres  more  for  every 
woman-servant,  and  man-servant  under  sixteen  years  of 
age.  And  100  acres  were  to  be  given  to  every  servant 
who  served  out  his  time. 

10.  To  every  free  person  that  should  arrive  to  plant 
and  inhabit  before  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  March,  1671, 100 
acres,  and  100  more  for  each  servant  he  brought  with  him 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  119 

or  caused  to  be  transported  into  the  colony,  70  acres  for 
every  woman-servant,  or  man-servant  under  sixteen  years 
of  age.  And  to  every  servant  that  should  arrive  before 
the  time  last  mentioned,  70  acres. 

11.  To  every  free  person  that  should  arrive  before  the 
25th  of  March,  1672,  with  intent  to  plant,  70  acres,  and 
70  acres  more  for  each  man  brought  with  him,  and  60 
acres  for  each  woman-servant  or  man-servant  under  six- 
teen years  of  age.  To  every  servant  who  should  arrive 
before  this  time,  70  acres  upon  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  servitude. 

12.  The  land  was  to  be  laid  out  in  squares  of  12,000 
acres,  each  of  which  squares  taken  up  by  a  Proprietor  was 
to  be  a  seigniory,  each  taken  up  by  a  Landgrave  or  Cacique 
to  be  a  barony,  each  set  aside  for  the  people  to  be  a 
colony.  The  proportion  of  24  colonies  to  8  seigniories 
and  8  baronies  was  to  be  preserved. 

13.  The  people  were  ordered  to  settle  in  towns,  and 
that  one  town  at  least  should  be  laid  out  in  each  colony. 
No  inhabitant  of  any  of  the  colonies,  that  is,  no  common 
person,  was  to  be  allowed  to  have  a  greater  proportion  of 
front  upon  ai  river  than  a  fifth  part  of  the  depth  of  his 
land. 

14.  A  person  having  brought  out  servants  to  settle  was 
to  appear  before  the  Governor  and  Council,  who  were 
thereupon  to  issue  to  him  a  warrant  to  the  surveyor 
general  to  lay  him  out  a  parcel  of  land  according  to  these 
instructions,  which  survey,  when  returned,  was  to  be 
recorded,  and  the  person  to  whom  the  land  was  granted 
was  then  to  be  sworn  to  his  allegiance  to  the  King,  fidelity 
and  submission  to  the  Lords  Proprietors  and  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  and  form  of  government,  whereupon 
the  grant  was  to  pass  under  the  seal. 

The  Proprietors  thus  attempted  to  evade  the  provision 


120  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

in  their  charter  which  secured  to  the  freemen  in  the 
province  the  right  to  participate  in  the  formation  of  the 
government,  and  to  force  upon  them  the  Fundamental 
Constitutions  which  the  Proprietors  had  adopted.  The 
charter  gave  to  the  Proprietors,  as  we  have  seen,  power 
and  authority  to  make  and  enact  laws,  only  "  by  and 
with  the  advice  assent  and  approbation  of  the  Freemen 
of  the  Province."  Disregarding  this  plain  restriction  upon 
their  power,  the  Proprietors  formulate  in  advance  an 
elaborate  and  minute  system  of  government  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  curtailing  the  power  of  the  people  who 
should  settle  the  province  —  as  they  euphemistically  ex- 
pressed it,  to  "avoid  erecting  a  numerous  democracy." 
To  this  plan  of  government,  so  devised  that  in  all  as- 
semblies or  parliaments,  as  they  were  grandiloquently 
termed,  the  representatives  of  the  people  must  inevi- 
tably be  outvoted  in  all  questions  by  a  patrician  order 
established  in  advance,  every  freeman  before  taking  part 
in  the  government,  or  being  allowed  to  take  out  a  grant 
of  land,  was  required  to  subscribe  his  submission,  and 
thus  commit  himself  to  a  waiver  of  his  rights  under  the 
Royal  charter. 

Ramsay,  in  the  introductory  chapter  to  his  history, 
states  that  neither  the  number  of  the  first  settlers  nor 
their  names,  with  the  exception  of  Sayle  and  West,  have 
reached  posterity.  The  Shaftesbury  papers  recently  given 
by  the  family  to  the  State  paper  office  in  London,  some 
of  which  have  been  published  by  the  city  council  of  Charles- 
ton, have  in  some  degree  supplied  this  information.  On 
the  17th  of  August,  1669,  three  vessels,  the  Carolina^ 
the  Port  Royals  and  the  Albemarle  lay  at  anchor  in  the 
Downes,  with  their  crews  and  ninety -three  passengers  in 
the  Carolina^  —  how  many  in  the  other  vessels  is  not  stated, 
—  with  supplies  of   all  kinds  aboard  and  ready  for  sea. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT 


121 


Of  the  ninety-three  passengers  aboard  the  Carolina^  six- 
teen were  masters,  one  of  whom  had  with  him  a  wife, 
sixty- three  servants,  and  thirteen  persons  who  brought 
no  servants.  The  first  name  is  that  of  Captain  Sullivan 
(Florence  O'Sullivan),  a  name  perpetuated  in  that  of 
Sullivan's  Island,  Charleston  harbor.  There  is  one  other 
name  destined  to  appear  much  in  the  history  of  South 
Carolina,  and  which  has  continued  in  his  family  from  the 
very  first  settlement  to  the  present  time.  This  is  the 
name  of  Stephen  Bull.^ 


1  Tear  Book  City  of  Charleston^  1883  (Courtenay),  366;  Centennial 
Address,  from  Shaftesbury  Papers.    Ihid.y  1886,  243. 

A  List  of  all  such  Masters,  free  Passengers  and  S'v't's  which  are 
now  aboard  the  Carolina  now  ridings  in  the  Downes,  August  the  10th 
1669 


Capt  Sullivan 

Ralph  Marshall  James  Montgomery 

Rich  :  Allexander  Stephen  Wheelwright 

Tho  Kinge  Eliz  Dommocke 
EUz :  Mathews 

Step  Bull 
Robert  Done  Barnaby  Bull 

Tho  Ingram  Jonathan  Barker 

John  Lar mouth      Dudley  Widgier 

Ed  Hollis  and  Jos  Dalton 
George  Prideox      Thomas  Younge 


Will.  Chambers 
Will  Roades 
Jane  Lawson 


Henry  Price 
John  Dawson 
Alfrd  Harleston 
Susanna  Kinder 


Tiio*  and  Paule  Smith 
Aice  Rixe  Jo  Hudlesworth 

Jo.  Burroughs         Hugh  Wigieston 


Eliz.  Smith 
Francis  Noone 


Andrew  Boorne 


HA.MBLETON  (JnO   HaMILTON) 


Tho  Gourden 
Jo  Frizen 
Edw  Young 
Samuel  Morris 
Agnis  Payne 


Tho  Poole 
Henry  Burgen 


Will  Lumsden 
Step  Flinte 
Jo  Thomson 
Tho  Southell 
Jo.  Reed. 

Jo  Rivers. 
Rob.  Williams 
Math  Smallwood 


Step  Price 


NiCH  Cakthwright 
Tho  Gubbs  Jo  Lqjde 

Martin  Bedson 
Will  Jenkins 

Morris  Mathews 
Alva  Phillips  Reglnold  Barefoot 

Mathew  Hewitt  Eliz  Currle 

Will  Bowman 
Abraham  Smith  Mlllicent  Howe 

Doctor  Will  Scrivener 
Margaret  Tudor. 
Will  Owens 
John  Humphreys        Christopher  Swade 
John  Borley 

Tho  Middleton  Eliz.  uxor  ejus 
Rich  Wright  Tho  Wormes 

Samuel  West 

Andrew  Searle  Will  West 

Joseph  Bailet 

John  Carmlchaell 

Passengers  that  have  noe  Servants 

Mr  Tho  Rideall  Mr  Will  Houghton 

Mr  Will  Hennis  Mr  Tho  Humfreys 

Eliz  Humphreys  Marie  Gierke 

Sam|.son  Darkenwell  Nathanyell  Darkenwell 

Mrs  Sarah  Erpe  Eliz  Erpe 

Martha  Powell  Mrs  Mary  Erpe 
Thomas  Motteshed 


*  This  Tho  Smith  has  been  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  Thomas  Smith  the 
Landgrave  ;  but  this  is  a  mistake.    Landgrave  Smith  did  not  come  to  Carolina  until  1687. 


122  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

The  fleet  stopped  at  Kinsale,  but  took  in  only  seven 
servants  there,  and  sailed  according  to  instructions  to 
Barbadoes,  which  was  reached  in  October;  it  was  con- 
signed to  Thomas  Colleton,  one  of  the  distinguished 
family  of  that  name  in  Barbadoes  —  a  son  of  Sir  John, 
one  of  the  original  Proprietors,  and  brother  of  Sir  Peter, 
the  present  Proprietor,  who  had  once  been  temporarily 
Governor  of  that  island,  and  of  James,  who  afterwards 
was  to  become  Governor  of  this  province. 

Besides  the  causes  of  discontent  of  the  planters  of  Bar- 
badoes to  which  we  have  alluded,  a  succession  of  dreadful 
hurricanes  had  occurred,  which,  added  to  the  fact  that  the 
island  was  over  populated,  and  that  the  planters  were  leav- 
ing for  the  Bahamas  and  other  islands,  induced  the  Pro- 
prietors to  hope  that  their  colony  would  find  many  there 
who  would  join  it  for  the  new  province.  It  was  thought 
that  over  one  hundred  emigrants  might  be  secured  there. 
In  securing  these  the  influence  of  Sir  John  Yeamans  and 
Thomas  Colleton  was  much  relied  upon ;  but  many  disas- 
ters occurred  at  Barbadoes.  While  lying  there  on  the  2d 
of  November  a  gale  struck  the  fleet  and  the  Albemarle  was 
driven  on  the  rocks  of  the  coast  and  shipwrecked.  One 
of  the  cables  of  the  Carolina  was  also  broken  and  the  Port 
Royal  lost  an  anchor  and  a  cable.  To  save  the  ship's  stores, 
many  were  put  ashore  until  repairs  could  be  completed 
and  another  sloop  hired  to  continue  the  voyage.  Another 
vessel  was  also  procured  in  the  place  of  the  Albemarle. 

Sir  John  Yeamans  encouraged  the  expedition,  and  deter- 
mined to  go  with  it  himself  to  Port  Royal.  The  fleet  sailed, 
but  was  soon  forced  to  put  in  at  Nevis,  a  British  West  India 
island.  There  they  found  Dr.  Henry  Woodward,  whom 
Sandford  had  left  with  the  Indians  at  Port  Royal  in  1665. 
He  had  been  well  treated  by  the  Indians,  but  had  been 
surprised  and  captured  by  Spaniards  at  St.  Helena,  and 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  123 

taken  prisoner  to  St.  Augustine  ;  he  had  been  rescued  and 
carried  to  the  Leeward  Islands,  from  which  he  shipped  as 
surgeon  of  a  privateer  and  was  cast  away  on  the  island 
in  the  hurricane  of  the  17th  of  August  which  had  wrecked 
the  Albemarle.  Notwithstanding  these  adventures,  he 
promptly  volunteered  to  join  the  expedition,  and  to  give 
it  the  benefit  of  his  experience.  His  services  were  at 
once  accepted.  1 

Sir  John  Yeamans  here  put  on  board  the  Port  Royal  one 
Christopher  Barrowe,  with  instructions  to  pilot  the  ship 
to  Port  Royal.  From  Nevis  the  fleet  had  good  weather 
until  near  land,  when  the  Port  Royal  parted  from  the 
other  vessels.  The  Carolina  and  the  Barbadian  sloop 
reached  Bermuda.  By  the  advice  of  Barrowe  the  Port 
Royal  sailed  southward  and,  endeavoring  to  touch  at  the 
Bahama  Islands,  was  cast  away  near  Abaco,  one  of  those 
islands,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1669-70.  The  company 
reached  the  shore  by  means  of  the  small  boat,  but  many 
lost  their  lives  on  that  island.  Here  Russell,  the  master 
of  the  Port  Royals  built  a  boat  in  which  they  got  to  Eleu- 
thera,  another  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  where  he  hired  a 
shallop  and  sailed  to  New  Providence,  whence  most  of  the 
survivors  obtained  transportation  to  Bermuda.  The  rest 
they  left  at  Providence,  except  Barrowe  and  his  wife,  who 
went  to  New  York.^ 

At  Bermuda  Sir  John  withdrew  entirely  from  the 
management  of  the  expedition,  assigning  as  his  reason 
that  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Barbadoes  to  be  in  readi- 
ness to  act  as  one  of  the  commissioners  previously  ap- 
pointed for  negotiating  with  French  commissioners  in 
regard  to  their  dispossession  and  expulsion  of  the  English 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial,  London,  1889,  246. 

2  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  369;  Shaftesbury 
Papers. 


124  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

settlers  from  their  plantations  in  St.  Christopher's  Island 
in  1666.  Upon  his  withdrawal,  he  persuaded  the  advent- 
urers to  take  William  Sajle,,  whom  he  describes  as  "a 
man  of  no  great  sufficiency  yet  the  ablest  I  could  meet 
with,"  and  inserted  his  name  in  the  blank  commission 
which  he  had  from  the  Lords  Proprietors.  A  reason  he 
assigned  for  doing  this  was  that  being  a  Bermudian  he 
thought  Sayle  might  induce  others  to  embark  with  them 
in  the  enterprise.  Thus  accidentally  was  the  first  Gov- 
ernor of  South  Carolina  appointed.^ 

The  deputations  in  blank  were  filled  as  follows :  Joseph 
West,  deputy  for  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  Dr.  William 
Scrivener  for  Lord  Berkeley,  Stephen  Bull  for  Lord 
Ashley,  William  Bowman  for  Lord  Craven.  Florence 
O'Sullivan  must  have  represented  either  Sir  George 
Carteret  or  Sir  Peter  Colleton. ^ 

The  appointment  of  Sayle  gave  rise  to  much  discontent. 
A  writer  describes  him  as  "  of  Bermuda,  a  Puritan  and 
nonconformist,  whose  religious  bigotry,  advanced  age 
and  failing  health  promised  badly  for  the  discharge  of 
the  task  before  him."  Two  others  of  the  party,  William 
Scrivener  and  William  Owen,  were  for  bringing  suit 
against  Sir  John,  but  the  matter  was  "  salved  over  "  and 
the  expedition  sailed  from  Bermuda  February  26,  1669-70, 
a  sloop  having  been  procured  in  the  place  of  the  Port 
Royal. 

After  leaving  Bermuda,  the  expedition  encountered  bad 
weather  again.  The  Carolina  and  the  Bermuda  sloop  suc- 
ceeded in  keeping  near  each  other,  but  the  Barbadian 
sloop  was  separated  and  did  not  rejoin  the  others  until 

1  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  369,  370;  Hist. 
Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  88. 

2  This  list  has  been  collated  by  and  kindly  given  me  by  Langdon 
Cheves,  Esq. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  125 

about  the  23d  of  May,  more  than  a  month  after  their 
arrival  at  Ashley  River. 

Mr.  Hugh  Carteret,  who  was  in  the  Carolina^  gives  an 
account  of  his  trip  from  Bermuda.     He  writes  :  — 

"  Sayling  thence  on  Feb'y  26th  we  came  up  with  land 
between  Cape  Romano  and  Port  Royall  at  a  place  called 
So  wee  or  Sewee  and  next  day  brought  the  ship  in,  through 
a  very  handsome  channel  and  lay  there  at  anchor  a  week."  ^ 

The  first  landing  of  this  expedition  was  thus  made 
about  March  17,  1670,  in  Sewee  Bay  at  the  back  of  Bull's 
Island.  The  name  and  the  fact  that  "  the  ship  came  in 
through  a  very  handsome  channel "  establishes  this  with 
great  certainty.  The  Indians  there  informed  Sayle  that 
a  tribe  known  as  the  Westoes  had  ruined  St.  Helena  and 
the  country  northward  as  far  as  Kiawha  (Ashley  River) 
about  a  day's  journey  distant.  The  Cacique  of  Kiawha, 
presumably  the  same  who  had  endeavored  to  persuade 
Sandford  to  visit  his  country  three  years  before,  now 
again  came  to  the  ships  and  renewed  the  praises  of  their 
land.  Taking  him  aboard  after  a  conference,  Sayle  and 
his  party  left  their  anchorage  and,  sailing  to  the  south- 
ward, entered  Port  Royal.  It  was  two  days  before  they 
could  communicate  with  the  Indians,  who  confirmed  what 
had  been  told  them  at  Sewee. 

During  their  short  stay  at  Port  Royal,  Governor  Sayle 
summoned  the  "freemen,"  according  to  the  instructions 
accompanying  his  commission,  to  elect  five  men  "  to  be  of 
the  council,"  and  they  elected  Paul  Smith,  Robert  Donne, 
Ralph  Marshall,  Samuel  West,  and  Joseph  Dalton  as  their 
representatives.  This  was  the  first  election  in  South 
Carolina.  We  have  no  record  whether  it  was  by  ballot 
or  by  poll.     William   Owen,   "always   itching  to  be  in 

1  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  370  ;  from  Shaftes- 
bury Papers. 


126  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

authority,"  censured  the  legality  of  the  election,  where- 
upon the  freemen  met  a  second  time  and  confirmed  their 
former  choice. 

The  expedition  then  left  Port  Royal  and  ran  in  between 
St.  Helena  Island  and  Combahee.  Many  went  ashore 
at  St.  Helena  and  found  the  land  good  and  many  peach 
trees.  From  this  point  the  Bermuda  sloop  was  dis- 
patched to  Kiawha  to  view  that  land  so  much  com- 
mended by  the  Cacique,  and  word  was  brought  back 
that  the  land  was  better  to  plant.  After  some  discus- 
sion, the  Governor  favoring  Kiawha,  it  was  determined 
to  settle  permanently  there.  Anchors  were  weighed,  the 
vessels  stood  to  the  north,  and  entering  what  is  now 
Charleston  harbor,  then  called  by  the  Spaniards  St. 
George's  Bay,  the  colony  landed  in  April  on  the  first  high 
point  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Kiawha,  which  Sandf  ord 
in  passing  had  called  the  Ashley.^  The  point  on  which  they 
settled  they  named  "  Albemarle  Point." 

Mr.  Morris  (or  Maurice)  Mathews,  who  was  in  the  Bar- 
badian sloop  procured  to  supply  the  place  of  the  Albe- 
marle which  was  lost  at  Barbadoes,  has  left  an  account 
which  enables  us  to  follow  that  sloop  in  her  perils  after 
leaving  Bermuda. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  by  stress  of  weather,  she  was 
driven   to   the   Island   of    St.    Catharine   about  latitude 


1  Indians  did  not  name  rivers.  Settlers  in  America  often  named  them 
from  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes,  but  did  not  find  them  so  called. 
Sandf  ord  says:  "I  demanded  the  name  of  this  River.  They  told  mee 
Edistowe  still  and  pointed  all  to  be  Edistowe  quite  home  to  the  side  of 
Jordan  by  which  I  was  instructed  that  the  Indians  assigne  not  their 
names  to  the  Rivers  but  to  the  Country es  and  people."  —  Year  Book  City 
of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1685,  275.  The  first  colonists  called  this  river 
Keawaw,  or  Ashley.  On  Culpepper's  first  map  of  the  settlement,  March  7, 
1672,  Cooper  River  is  put  down  as  the  Wando,  and  the  present  Wando 
as  the  Etiwan. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  127 

31  degrees.  There  they  proceeded  to  "  wood  and  water  " 
the  vessel.  They  traded  with  the  Indians  and  enter- 
tained them  aboard  the  vessel.  On  the  next  day  "a 
semi-Spaniard  Indian "  came  aboard  with  a  present  of 
bread  set  for  the  master  and  promised  pork  in  exchange 
for  "truck."  On  the  17th  the  master  and  mate  and  Mr. 
Rivers,  who  also- was  in  this  company,  three  seamen  and 
one  man-servant  went  ashore  with  truck  to  buy  pork  — 
for  the  sloop's  use.  Two  other  men-servants  went  ashore 
to  cut  wood  and  two  females  to  wash  linen.  The  Spaniards 
and  Indians  treacherously  made  prisoners  of  a  part  or  all 
ashore  and  commanded  the  sloop  "  to  yield  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  St.  Domingo."  This  demand  was  declined, 
whereupon  the  Spaniards,  finding  that  their  demands 
were  not  obeyed,  opened  fire  with  their  muskets  and 
bows,  but  only  succeeded  in  damaging  the  vessel's  sails. 
The  next  day  a  favorable  wind  springing  up,  the  men 
aboard  the  sloop  gave  the  Indians  a  parting  salute  with 
their  muskets,  which  sent  them  behind  the  trees,  and 
hauled  the  ship  out  of  gun-shot.  Leaving  the  island, 
several  days  were  spent  in  sailing  about  the  Carolina 
coast  until  they  arrived  opposite  "Odistash"  (Edisto). 
Here  the  Indians  welcomed  them,  told  them  of  the  English 
at  Kiawha,  and  offered  to  show  them  the  way  over.  The 
next  morning  they  arrived  at  the  entrance  to  Kiawha, 
where  they  met  the  Bermudian  sloop  going  to  fish,  which 
piloted  them  into  Kiawha  River.  The  prisoners  taken  by 
the  Spaniards  were  subsequently  sent  to  St.  Augustine.^ 

The  colonists  were  thus  once  more  united.  Two  out  of 
the  three  ships  that  sailed  from  the  Thames  and  some 
lives  had  been  lost.  Just  how  many  of  the  original  com- 
pany arrived  at  Kiawha  cannot  now  be  ascertained.     The 

1  Tear  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  372;  Colonial 
Becords  of  iVo.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  207. 


128  HISTORY  OP   SOUtH  CAROLIIsrA 

company  had  been  increased  at  Barbadoes,  and  some  also 
had  probably  joined  at  Bermuda.  One  ship  only  of  the 
original  expedition  reached  Carolina.  Five  had  been 
engaged  in  the  expedition  from  the  time  the  colonists 
left  the  Downes  to  the  landing  at  Kiawha.^ 

It  is  a  curious  and  interesting  circumstance  that  just 
about  this  time  Sir  William  Berkeley,  the  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, had  commissioned  John  Lederer,  a  learned  German, 
to  make  explorations  to  the  mountainous  part  of  that 
province,  and  that  in  his  wanderings  with  a  single  Indian 
guide  he  is  believed  to  have  reached  the  Santee,  and  if  so, 
had  he  crossed  that  river  and  pushed  on  a  little  farther,  he 
might  have  found  Governor  Sayle  and  the  colony  only 
just  arrived.  Dr.  Hawks,  the  historian  of  North  Caro- 
lina, however,  upon  a  careful  study  of  Lederer 's  journal 
as  translated  by  Sir  William  Talbot,  Governor  of  Mary- 
land, from  the  original,  which  was  written  in  Latin,  and  a 
map  which  accompanied  it,  concludes,  we  think  judiciously, 
thai  the  wanderings  of  the  learned  German  were  within 
the  present  boundaries  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  ^ 

1  This  account  of  the  voyage  of  the  colonists  has  been  collated  princi- 
pally from  the  Centennial  Address  of  Major  W.  A.  Courtenay,  Year  Book 
City  of  Charleston^  1883,  and  by  him  compiled  from  MS.  Shaftesbury 
Papers  of  the  So.  Ca.  Hist.  Society,  now  about  to  be  published. 

2  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.  (Hawks),  vol.  II,  43. 


CHAPTER   VI 

1670-71 

The  colonists,  upon  landing  at  Albemarle  Point  on 
the  Ashley,  entrenched  themselves  and  began  to  lay  out 
streets  and  town  lots,  and  to  build  fortifications  and 
houses.  They  were  gladly  received  by  the  Indians  in 
the  neighborhood,  whose  Cacique  had  so  urgently  pressed 
them  to  settle  there,  not  altogether  unselfishly,  however, 
but  because  of  the  protection  the  Kiawhas  hoped  the 
colony  would  afford  them  against  the  Westoes,  who  then 
inhabited  the  region  about  Port  Royal,  and  of  whom  they 
stood  in  mortal  dread,  representing  them  as  cannibals. 
The  Kiawhas  brought  the  settlers  venison  and  skins  for 
trade,  and  oysters  were  found  in  great  plenty,  though  not 
so  pleasant  to  the  taste  "as  your  Wallfleet  oyster." 
The  turkeys  were  bigger  than  those  at  home.  As  the 
Kiawhas,  however,  could  not  take  care  of  themselves,  still 
less  could  they  secure  the  new-comers  from  the  other  Ind- 
ians, and  the  colonists  were  obliged  to  stand  continually 
on  their  guard.  While  one  party  was  employed  in  raising 
their  little  habitations,  another  was  always  kept  under 
arms  to  watch  the  Indians.^ 

Nor  were  the  Indians  their  only  or  their  worst  foes. 
The  peace  concluded  between  England  and  Spain  in  1667, 
and  the  recognition  by  Spain  of  the  rights  of  England 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial,  London,  1889,  255-257 ;  Hewatt, 
Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  49. 

K  129 


130  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

to  her  possessions  in  America,  was  one  of  the  induce- 
ments to  the  Proprietors  to  begin  the  settlement  of  their 
province.  But  Spain,  while  acknowledging  the  right  of 
England  to  such  possessions,  had  not  agreed  to  any  defini- 
tion of  her  territory.  She  had  never  admitted  the  right 
of  England  to  that  covered  by  the  charters  of  the  Pro- 
prietors. She  still  claimed  a  greater  part  of  it  as  be- 
longing to  Florida.  Charleston  harbor  was  still  hers,  as 
St.  George's  Bay.  The  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine  were 
thus  for  near  a  century  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  colony 
of  Carolina.  There  was  a  castle  there  usually  garrisoned 
by  about  300  or  400  regular  troops.  Besides  these,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  towns,  many  of  whom  were  mulattoes 
of  savage  dispositions,  were  all  in  the  King's  pay  and 
formed  into  a  militia,  computed  to  be  about  the  same 
number  as  the  regular  troops.  This  idle  population,  rely- 
ing on  the  King's  pay  only,  giving  no  attention  to  agri- 
culture or  trade,  or  any  other  peaceful  pursuit,  were  ready 
at  all  times  for  mischievous  adventures,  and  furnished  a 
body  whose  deeds  of  hostility  might  be  conveniently 
avowed  or  disowned  as  circumstances  required.  These 
people,  regardless  of  the  declaration  of  peace,  had  no  idea 
of  standing  by  and  idly  looking  on  the  establishment  of 
an  English  colony  at  St.  George's  Bay.  They  sent  an 
expedition  at  once  to  break  it  up.  The  vessel  they  sent 
entered  the  Stono,  but  finding  the  colonists  on  their  guard 
and  stronger  than  they  had  expected  did  not  attack,  but 
returned  to  St.  Augustine.  They  had,  however,  shown 
the  settlers  on  the  Ashley  River  that  they  were  but  an 
outpost  to  the  other  English  colonies  in  America,  liable 
at  any  moment  to  be  attacked,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
timely  assistance.  Governor  Sayle,  notwithstanding  his 
great  age,  shared  in  all  the  hardships  with  his  fellow- 
adventurers  and  by  his  example  animated  and  encouraged 


UNDER   THE  l>ROPRlETAftY  GOVERNMENT  131 

them  to  perseverance.  In  May  the  Carolina  was  sent  to 
Virginia  for  provisions,  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 
June  the  Barbadian  shallop  was  dispatched  to  Bermuda 
for  settlers  and  for  supplies.  The  Carolina  returned  on 
the  22d  of  August  to  Kiawha  and  in  September  was 
sent  to  Barbadoes,  whence  she  did  not  return  until  early 
in  the  next  year.^ 

Governor  Sayle  is  said  to  have  been  a  Puritan,  and  the 
style  and  tone  of  the  following  letter,  which  he  wrote  to 
Lord  Ashley  from  Albemarle  Point  on  the  25th  of  June, 
1670,  is  certainly  in  accordance  with  the  temper  of  that 
religious  class,  though  it  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  England  for  whose  ministrations  he  was  appealing  —  a 
clergyman  for  whom  Sir  John  Yeamans  had  promised  to 
procure  a  commission  from  the  King  to  make  him  their 
minister.     He  writes  :  — 

"Though  we  are  (att  pr'sent)  under  some  straight  for  want  of 
provision  (incident  to  the  best  of  new  plantations)  yet  we  doubt  not 
(through  the  goodness  of  God)  of  remits  from  sundry  places  to  w'ch 
we  have  sent.  But  there  is  one  thing  which  lyes  very  heavy  upon  us, 
the  want  of  a  Godly  and  orthodox  minist'r  w'ch  I  and  many  others 
of  us  have  ever  lived  under  as  the  greatest  of  o'r  Mercys.  May  it 
please  your  Lords'p  in  my  late  country  of  Bermudas  there  are  divers 
Minstr's  of  whom  there  is  one  Mr  Sampson  Bond  heretofore  of  long 
standing  in  Exeter  Colledge  in  Oxford  and  ordaigned  by  the  late 
Bishop  of  Exeter  the  ole  Do'r  Joseph  Hall.  And  by  a  commission 
from  the  Earl  of  Manchester  and  company  for  the  Sumer  Islands 
sent  theere  in  the  yeere  1662  for  the  term  of  three  yeeres  imder  whose 
powerfull  and  soul-edefying  Ministry  I  have  lived  eight  yeeres  last 
past.  There  was  nothing  in  all  this  world  soe  grievous  to  my  spirit 
as  the  thought  of  parting  with  his  Godly  society  and  faithfull  min- 
istry. But  I  did  a  little  comfort  myself  that  it  might  please  y'r  ^  Lord 
by  some  good  measure  or  other  to  enclyne  his  heart  to  come  after  us, 
who  hath  little  respect  from  some  who  are  now  in  authority  in  Ber- 

1  Hewatt,  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  61. 

2  Probably  should  be  ye. 


132  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

mudas  w'ch  is  a  great  discouragm'nt  to  him,  w'ch  is  taken  notice  of 
in  other  places,  and  he  is  invited  to  Boston  in  New  England  and  to 
New  York  by  the  Govern'r  there  tenders  of  large  encouragement  if 
he  will  come  to  ye  one  or  other  place.  I  have  likewise  writt  most 
earnestly  to  him  desiring  that  he  would  come  and  sitt  downe  with  us, 
assuring  him  that  it  is  not  only  ray  urgent  request,  but  withall  the 
most  hearty  request  of  ye  colony  in  generall,  who  were  exceedingly 
affected  with  him  and  his  ministry  all  the  tyme  they  were  in  Ber- 
mudas." 1 

Again  in  a  letter  of  9th  September,  in  which  Florence 
O'Sullivan,  Stephen  Bull,  Joseph  West,  William  Scrivener, 
Ralph  Marshall,  Paul  Smith,  Samuel  West,  and  Joseph 
Dalton  join,  he  urges  the  great  want  of  an  able  minister 
by  whose  means  corrupted  youth  might  be  reclaimed  and 
the  people  instructed.  The  Israelites'  prosperity  decayed 
when  their  prophets  were  wanting,  for  where  the  ark  of 
God  is,  he  says,  there  is  peace  and  tranquillity. 

The  Lords  Proprietors  authorized  an  offer  to  be  made 
to  Mr.  Bond  of  500  acres  of  land  and  X40  per  annum  to 
come  to  Carolina,  but  they  declared  that  though  allowed 
to  be  a  preacher  among  the  colonists,  they  gave  neither 
him  nor  Sayle  authority  to  compel  any  one  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion, having  in  their  Fundamental  Constitutions  granted 
a  freedom  which  they  resolved  to  keep  inviolable.  Mr. 
Bond  did  not  come,  but  remained  at  Bermuda  many  years 
afterwards.  2 

While  Sayle  and  other  leaders  of  the  colony  were 
doubtless  men  of  strong  religious  character,  the  com- 
pany generally  was  composed  of  adventurers  of  the  ordi- 
nary type ;  men  no  doubt  of  irreligious  and  reckless 
lives.  So  we  read  that  on  the  4th  of  July,  the  Governor 
and  Council,  having  been  informed  how  much  the  Sab- 

^  Shaftesbury  Papers;  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury), 
1889,  202,  489  ;    Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  374. 
2  Anderson's  Hist,  of  the  Colonial  Churchy  vol.  II,  336. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  133 

bath  day  was  profanely  violated,  and  of  divers  grand 
abuses  practised  by  the  people  to  the  great  dishonor  of 
God  Almighty  and  the  destruction  of  good  neighbor- 
hood, took  seriously  into  consideration  by  what  means 
these  evils  might  be  redressed.  And  here  at  once  the 
absurdity  of  the  grand  model  of  government  with  which 
they  had  come  encumbered,  and  the  inadequacy  and 
unsuitableness  of  their  powers  even  under  the* instruc- 
tions to  the  Governor  and  Council,  became  apparent.  By 
the  latter,  the  Governor,  with  the  five  deputies  of  the 
Proprietors  and  the  five  '••  freemen  "  elected  at  Port  Royal, 
were  to  govern  according  to  the  limitations  and  instruc- 
tions of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  as  far  as  was 
practicable  ;  but  they  were  required  also  to  summon 
the  "  freeholders  "  to  choose  twenty  persons  who,  with  the 
deputies,  were  to  form  a  Parliament.  Now  it  was  found 
that  the  number  of  freeholders  in  the  colony  were 
"nott  neere  sufficient  to  elect  a  Parliam't."  The  Gov- 
ernor, thereupon,  with  the  consent  of  his  Council  made 
such  orders  as  were  thought  convenient  to  suppress  the 
abuses.^  Such  temporary  orders  were  expressly  provided 
for  under  the  provisions  of  the  charter,  but  had  not  been 
either  under  the  constitutions  or  the  instructions  brought 
out  by  Governor  Sayle.  Nor  was  there  found  wanting  in 
the  colony  one  astute  enough  to  perceive  the  dilemma, 
though  there  was  no  lawyer  among  these  people,  who  by  the 
constitutions  were  to  attend  each  to  his  own  law  business. 
The  Governor  summoned  all  the  people  to  hear  the  orders 
he  had  determined  upon.  Mr.  William  Owen,  the  same 
who  had  "  censured  the  legality  "  of  the  election  held  at 
Port  Royal,  and  who  is  now  described  as  one  "  willing  to 
doe  any  thing  though  ever  so  ill  in  itselfe,  rather  than 

1  Shaftesbury  Papers;  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury), 
Loudon,  1889,  181 ;   Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883. 


134  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

not  to  appeare  to  be  a  man  of  accion,"  persuaded  the  peo- 
ple that  without  a  Parliament  no  such  orders  could  pass. 
In  this  he  was  supported  by  Dr.  William  Scrivener,  deputy 
of  Lord  Berkeley.  While  the  Governor  and  Council  were 
discussing  this  new  point  and  other  matters,  Owen,  con- 
stituting himself  manager  and  returning  officer,  held  elec- 
tion on  the  4th  of  July  and  took  down  the  names  of  those 
elected.  '  Tiie  Governor  and  Council,  in  their  account  of 
the  matter,  say  that  two  of  the  Parliament  men  returned 
were  servants  —  "  Mich  Moran  a  laboring  Irishman  and 
Rich  Crossley  set  free  by  his  master  for  idleness  ";  but 
among  the  Shaftesbury  papers  is  one  entitled  "  Mr.  Owen's 
Parliament's  Return,"  which  gives  the  names  of  those 
elected ;  viz.  Maurice  Mathews,  Henry  Hughes,  John 
^^0  Jones,  Thomas  Smith,  Henry  Symons,  Henry  Woodward, 
Hugh  Carteret,  James  Marschall,  Anthony  Churne,  Will- 
iam Kennis,  George  Beadon,  Jonathan  Baker,  Thomas 
Ingram,  Thomas  Norris,  and  Will  Owen.  The  names  of 
the  two  servants,  Moran  and  Crossley,  do  not  appear. 
Though  "  Mr.  Owen's  Parliament's  Return "  recites  that 
the  election  was  held  by  the  Governor's  orders  and  sum- 
mons, the  Governor  and  Council  took  no  notice  of  it, 
and  the  Governor's  orders  were  published  and  received 
without  further  question. 
y  Owen  and  Scrivener  were  not,  however,  so  easily  sub- 
dued. The  Governor  and  Council  complain  to  the  Lords 
Proprietors  that  Owen,  finding  himself  "  swallowed  up  in 
a  general  consent,"  fell  upon  a  new  stratagem,  and  per- 
suaded the  people,  especially  the  new-comers,  that  as 
there  was  no  great  seal  in  the  province,  unless  a  Parlia- 
ment were  forthwith  chosen  to  prevent  it,  their  lands  and 
all  their  improvements  might  be  taken  away  at  pleasure. 
"  Now,"  says  the  Governor,  "  Owen  hath  hit  the  mark,  he 
is  what  he  would  be,  the  leader  of  a  company  of  people 


UNDER  THE  PBOPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  135 

upon  any  terms,  the .  people^s  prolocutor,  and  therefore 
must  have  room  in  the  council  to  show  himself  and  the 
people's  grievances."  The  Governor  and  Council  patiently 
heard,  they  declare,  Owen's  argument  upon  the  inter- 
pretation of  their  Lordship's  instructions,  after  which  the 
Governor  made  a  speech  to  the  people,  giving  them  to 
understand  his  power  and  authority  to  assure  them  their 
lands  until  their  great  seal  arrived,  and  that  he  intended 
to  summon  a  Parliament  when  opportunity  served  or 
necessity  required  ;  whereupon,  he  says,  all  or  most  of  the 
freemen  were  fully  satisfied.  Scrivener,  however,  he  goes 
on  to  say,  perceiving  that  Owen  and  himself  were  likely 
to  lose  reputation  as  men  of  understanding,  rose  up, 
and  with  more  than  ordinary  heat  desired  the  people  to 
take  notice  that  he  conceived  their  proposals  —  that  is, 
that  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  Parliament  called  to  secure 
their  lands  from  forfeiture  —  very  just  and  reasonable, 
and  that  those  who  would  not  support  them  were  dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  and  infringers  of  the  people's  lib- 
erties. This  was  more  than  the  Governor  and  Council 
could  stand,  and  they  report  that  for  such  speeches,  tend- 
ing to  the  slighting  and  utter  destruction  of  the  present 
government,  and  inciting  the  people  to  sedition  and 
mutiny  and  consequently  to  the  ruin  of  the  settlement, 
it  was  that  same  day  ordered  that  from  thenceforth 
Scrivener  be  suspended  from  the  Council,  and  that  both 
he  and  Owen  be  incapable  of  bearing  any  public  office  or 
employment  in  the  colony  until  further  orders. ^  Scriv- 
ener was,  however,  soon  back  in  the  Council.  In  Novem- 
ber Braine  writes  to  Lord  Ashley  that  there  are  but  five 
men  in  the  Council  that  have  any  reason, —  Captain  West, 

1  Shaftesbury  Papers;  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial^  London,  1889, 
213,  329,  471,  473 ;  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883, 
376. 


136  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Messrs.  Bull,  Scrivener,  Dun,  and  .Dalton.^  And  Owen, 
too,  whose  election  to  Parliament  by  the  people  in  July, 
1670  the  Governor  would  not  allow,  some  time  after  took 
his  seat  in  the  Council  itself,  as  the  deputy  of  Sir  Peter 
Colleton. 2  In  the  meanwhile  he  is  in  correspondence 
with  Lord  Ashley,  who  thanks  him  for  his  letters,  which 
indeed  are  among  the  ablest  written  from  the  colony. ^ 
Writing  to  Robert  Blaney,  secretary  to  Lord  Ashley, 
he  speaks  not  unkindly  of  the  Governor.  He  cannot 
believe  but  that  the  Governor  is  honest,  but  whether  of 
parts  sufficiently  qualified  in  judging  civil  rights  he  can- 
not tell.  A  man  for  this  place  must  be  of  parts,  learning, 
and  policy,  and  of  a  moderate  zeal ;  not  strict  Episcopal, 
nor  yet  licentious  nor  rigid  "  Presbyterian  nor  yet 
hypocritical,  but  saving  himself  in  an  even  balance  be- 
tween all  opinions,  but  especially  turning  his  fore  to  the 
church  of  England."  * 

The  Carolina^  under  command  of  Captain  Henry  Braine, 
which  had  been  sent  to  Virginia  in  May,  1670,  returned, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  Kiawha  on  the  22d  of  August  with  sup- 
plies. Florence  O'Sullivan  had  written  to  Lord  Ashley  by 
her,  by  the  way  of  Virginia,  and  he  wrote  again  on  the 
10th  of  September,  that  the  country  proves  good  beyond 
expectation,  abounding  in  all  things,  as  good  oak,  ash, 
deer,  turkeys,  partridges,  rabbits,  turtle,  and  fish,  and  the 
land  produces  anything  that  is  put  into  it ;  for  they  had 
tried  it  with  corn,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  provisions, 
which  did  well,  the  lateness  of  the  season  considered.  He 
had  made  discoveries  in  the  country,  and  found  it  good, 
with  many  pleasant  rivers. 

The  Carolina  had  returned  from  Virginia  in  good  time; 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  329,  473. 

2  Ihid,  721  ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  11. 
8  Calendar  State  Papers,  261,  491. 

*  Shaftesbury  Papers ;  Calendar  State  Papers,  473. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  137 

for  all  the  provisions  were  gone,  and  the  colonists  forced 
to  live  upon  the  friendly  Indians,  some  of  whom  were 
very  kind  to  them.  She  then  sailed  again  for  Barbadoes, 
seeking  emigrants  and  fresh  supplies.  O'SuUivan  was 
evidently  not  a  Puritan,  as  Sayle  was,  nor  did  he  believe 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  that  the 
colony  could  get  along  without  lawyers.     He  writes  :  — 

"  Wee  expect  from  yo'  hono"  a  shipp  from  England  w""  more  peo- 
ple, you  wold  doe  well  to  grant  free  passage  to  passengers  for  some 
small  tyme  for  many  would  be  willing  to  come  y*  are  not  able  to  pay 
their  passage,  pray  send  us  a  minister  quallified  according  to  the 
Church  of  England,  and  an  able  councellor  to  end  controversies 
amongst  us  and  put  us  in  the  right  way  of  the  managem'  of  yo"  coll 
—  we  hope  now  the  worst  is  past  if  you  please  to  stand  by  us  "  etc.^ 

Dr.  Henry  Woodward,  who  had  been  found  at  Nevis 
and  was  with  the  expedition  when  Sir  John  Yeamans  left 
it  at  Bermuda,  writes  to  Sir  John  on  the  same  day  that 
O' Sullivan  writes  to  Lord  Ashley  (10th  of  September), 
excusing  himself  for  not  having  written  since  his  Honor 
left  Bermuda  for  Barbadoes,  and  he  with  the  others  set 
forward  for  the  main,  and  tells  of  a  country  he  had  dis- 
covered, so  delicious,  pleasant,  and  fruitful,  that,  were  it 
cultivated,  it  doubtless  would  prove  a  second  paradise.  He 
describes  it  as  lying  west  by  north  fourteen  days'  travel 
after  the  Indian  manner  of  marching.  ^  He  had  formed 
a  league  with  the  Emperor  of  this  land  of  Chufytachygs 
and  of  all  the  petty  ''  cassiks  "  between  the  Emperor  and 
themselves,  and  so  upon  his  return,  the  Carolina  being 
still  absent  on  her  voyage  to  Virginia  and  provisions  run- 
ning low,  he  had  been  enabled  to  procure  provisions  from 
the  natives.     He  tells  of  the  threat  of   invasion  by  the 

^  Shaftesbury  Papers;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  207. 

2  Supposed  to  be  the  land  of  Cofacliiqui,  visited  by  De  Soto  in  1540, 
near  or  upon  the  sources  of  the  Savannah  River,  where  the  States  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  border  upon  each  other. 


138  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Spaniards,  which  he  conceived  was  designed  in  the  hope 
of  intercepting  the  Carolina  on  her  return  from  Virginia, 
yet  it  pleased  God  the  ship  arrived  safely  with  her  most 
convenient  supply.  ^ 

Governor  Sayle's  health,  from  his  great  age  and  the 
fatigue  and  exposure  incident  to  the  settlement  of  the 
colony,  soon  failed.  On  the  30th  of  September  he  exe- 
cuted a  will  whereby,  declaring  himself  weak  in  body,  but 
(blessed  be  God)  in  perfect  mind  and  memory,  he  devised 
''  his  mansion  house  and  Town  Lot  in  Albemarle  Point  to 
his  eldest  son  Nathaniel  Sayle."  He  lived,  however, 
until  the  March  following,  when  he  died,  aged  about 
eighty  years. ^  He  was  authorized  by  his  commission,  with 
the  advice  and  approbation  of  his  Council,  to  nominate  a 
deputy  to  succeed  him  in  case  he  should  die  or  depart 
from  the  province,  who  should  act  as  Governor  until  the 
pleasure  of  the  Proprietors  should  be  known. ^  On  the 
morning  of  the  4th  of  March,  finding  his  strength  failing, 
but  in  full  possession  of  his  senses,  he  sent  for  his  Council 
and  nominated  Joseph  West  as  his  successor  under  this 
power.  The  nomination  was  approved,  and  upon  his 
death  West  assumed  the  government.* 

The  death  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  had  preceded  Gov- 
ernor Sayle's  a  few  months.  Lord  Ashley  writes  to  West 
on  the  1st  of  November,  that  the  present  Palatine  is  Lord 
John  Berkeley,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  who  has  suc- 
ceeded the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  deceased.^  But  his  Lord- 
ship was  not  regularly  admitted  as  such  until  the  20th  of 
January,  1669-70.6 

^  Shaftesbury  Papers ;  Colonial  Becords  of  N'o.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  208. 
2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  96  ;  Appendix,  385. 
»  Ibid.,  MO,  Ml. 

^Shaftesbury  Papers;   Calendar  State  Papers  (Sainsbury),  London, 
1889,  472  ;   Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  375. 
^  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  313. 
8  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  180. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  139 

The  Council  organized  by  Sayle  continued  to  govern 
the  colony  until  the  Proprietor's  ship,  the  Blessing, 
brought  further  instruction  in  August,  1670.  Captain 
Halsted,  the  master,  was,  by  these  instructions,  upon 
reaching  the  Ashley,  first  to  deliver  eight  small  guns  with 
their  carriages  to  the  Governor  and  Council,  and  then 
with  all  convenient  speed  to  procure  a  loading  of  timber 
staves  and  other  commodities  suitable  for  the  market  at 
Barbadoes,  to  which  he  was  to  sail  as  soon  as  he  secured 
his  freight.  During  the  lading  of  his  vessel  he  was  to 
take  a  strict  and  particular  account  of  the  stores  which 
had  been  brought  out  by  West  as  storekeeper,  also  of  the 
cargo  from  Virginia  and  the  provisions  received  from  Ber- 
muda. West  and  Braine,  while  at  Bermuda,  had  drawn 
on  Mr.  Colleton  for  12,000  pounds  of  sugar,  and  had 
since  drawn  on  him  for  a  similar  amount.  Captain  Hal- 
sted was  to  inquire  in  what  this  sugar  was  laid  out,  also 
for  the  beef  and  flour  Mr.  Colleton  had  sent.  He  was  to 
take  a  receipt  of  Mr.  West  for  the  cargo  he  was  to 
deliver.  If  he  had  time  during  the  lading  of  the  ship,  he 
was  to  take  a  view  of  the  country,  especially  of  Ashley 
River,  to  seek  a  healthy  highland  convenient  to  set  out  a 
town,  as  high  up  as  a  ship  could  well  be  carried,  and  to  do 
the  same  in  Wando  and  also  "  Sewa  River."  He  was  to 
inquire  concerning  the  healthfulness,  richness,  and  other 
properties  of  the  soil,  especially  whether  the  country  pro- 
duced timber  for  masts.  As  soon  as  his  vessel  was  laded, 
he  was  to  sail  for  Bridge  To\vn,  Barbadoes,  there  to  dis- 
pose of  the  timber  upon  the  best  terms,  consulting  Sir 
John  Yeamans  and  Mr.  Thomas  Colleton  as  to  the  best 
course  for  securing  passengers  for  Ashley  River,  which 
was  to  be  the  main  purpose  of  his  voyage  thither.  At 
Barbadoes  he  was  also  to  inquire  about  those  bills  charged 
upon  them  by  Mr.  Colleton.     As  soon  as  he  had  secured 


140  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

passengers,  he  was  to  sail  again  for  the  Ashley  River  and, 
delivering  them  there,  to  sail  to  Virginia,  and  then  to  lay 
out  the  produce  of  the  rum  and  sugar  he  was  to  take  in  at 
Barbadoes,  in  cattle  which  he  was  to  take  back  to  the  Ash- 
ley. His  instructions  then  provided  for  another  voyage 
to  Barbadoes  with  lumber,  the  proceeds  of  which  he  was  to 
invest  in  a  cargo  fit  for  the  Bahamas,  where  he  was  also 
to  seek  passengers  back  to  the  Ashley.  In  all  his  trips  to 
any  place  in  the  West  Indies  he  was  enjoined  to  remember 
that  the  chief  employment  of  his  ship  should  be  to  carry 
people  to  their  plantation  on  the  Ashley,  and  that  traffic 
was  to  be  subservient  to  this  purpose.^ 

Captain  Halsted  also  brought  out  with  him  a  set  of 
laws,  styled  "Temporary  Laws,"  which  the  Proprietors 
had  adopted  to  be  administered  until  there  was  a  sufficient 
number  of  inhabitants  to  warrant  the  enforcement  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  in  all  particulars  ;  but  these 
Temporary  Laws  did  but  little  to  relieve  the  situation. 
The  officers  and  machinery  of  the  government  retained 
were  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  numbers  of  the  colony. 
The  government  as  prescribed  was  still  absurdly  top-heavy. 
For  a  colony  at  first  of  not  more  than  200,  and  which  in 
two  years  did  not  double  its  numbers,  it  was  still  proposed 
to  maintain  a  Grand  Council,  Parliament,  and  numerous 
officers  of  the  highest  grade  known  to  European  govern- 
ments. The  Palatine  was  to  name  the  Governor,  and  each 
Lord  Proprietor  a  deputy,  which  deputies,  and  an  equal 
number  of  others  chosen  by  the  Parliament,  should  con- 
tinue to  be  counsellors  until  the  Proprietors  should  order 
a  new  choice  or  the  country  be  so  peopled  as  to  be  capable 
of  the  grand  model  of  government.  When  Landgraves 
or  Caciques  should  be  created  by  the  Proprietors,  so  many 
of  the  eldest  of  them  as  should  be  resident  in  the  province 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  359-362. 


tJNDER   THE   PROi?RlETARY   GOVERNMENT  14l 

as  would  equal  the  number  of  the  Lords  Proprietors'  depu- 
ties should  be  added  to  the  Council,  so  that  the  nobility 
should  have  a  share  in  the  government.  The  Governor 
with  the  Lords  Proprietors'  deputies,  the  Landgraves,  and 
Caciques  (of  the  Council),  and  those  chosen  by  the  Parlia- 
ment were  to  be  a  Grand  Council  and  have  all  the  power 
and  authority  of  such  under  the  constitutions  and  of 
other  courts  until  they  should  be  evicted.  Besides  these 
there  were  to  be  a  Chief  Justice,  who  should  appoint  a 
Chief  Marshal,  a  Chancellor,  Treasurer,  High  Steward, 
High  Chamberlain,  Admiral,  Secretary,  Receiver,  Sur- 
veyor, Register,  and  Marshal  of  the  admiralty. 
i/  To  suit  the  beginning  of  the  government  and  to  prevent 
the  taking  up  great  tracts  of  land  sooner  than  they  could 
be  settled,  it  was  provided  that  until  by  the  increase  of 
the  inhabitants  parts  of  seventy-two  colonies  should  be 
possessed  by  the  people,  each  Proprietor  should  have  but 
three  seigniories  and  each  Landgrave  and  Cacique  but  one 
barony.  Lords  of  baronies  and  manors  were  to  be  required 
to  have  each  upon  his  barony  thirty  persons  and  upon 
his  manor  fifteen  within  seven  years  after  the  date  of  his 
grant. 

To  these  provisions  were  added  two  others.  First, 
that  no  Indian  upon  any  occasion  or  pretence  whatsoever 
was  to  be  made  a  slave  or  without  his  own  consent  be 
carried  out  of  the  country.  Second,  a  provision  for  keep- 
ing full  the  number  of  the  deputies  of  the  Proprietors  in 
the  Council  by  directing  how  vacancies  should  be  supplied.  V 
Notice  was  brought  at  the  same  time  that  Mr.  James 
Carteret,  Sir  John  Yeamans,  and  Mr.  John  Locke  had 
been  made  Landgraves. ^  The  Royal  charter,  as  we  have 
pointed  out,  empowered  the  Proprietors  to  confer  titles 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  351,  353. 

2  Ihid.,  103  ;  Appendix,  368. 


142  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

only  "  upon  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  "  as 
they  should  think  fit ;  but  here  we  see  them  in  the  very 
outset  making  persons  who  had  never  even  been  in  the 
colony  of  Carolina  Landgraves.  Captain  Halsted  was  also 
instructed  to  tell  the  settlers,  with  reference  to  the  supply 
of  provisions  which  he  carried  to  them,  that  the  Proprietors 
had  "  been  so  much  out  of  purse  "  for  their  good  that  it 
was  expected  of  them  in  return  to  be  "fair  and  punctual" 
in  repaying  what  they  had  got ;  "  upon  which  fair  dealing 
of  them  will  depend  the  continuation  of  our  supplies." 

We  cannot  refrain  from  remarking,  observes  Rivers, 
that  the  "  true  and  absolute  lords  "  of  the  immense  region 
of  Carolina,  with  all  its  mines,  quarries,  and  fisheries,  whose 
object  was  declared  to  be  the  diffusion  of  the  Christian 
religion  among  those  who  knew  not  God,  must  now  have 
appeared  to  the  colonists  to  abandon  their  dignity  and 
best  policy  for  sordid  calculations.  Instead  of  the  Gospel, 
the  Indians  were  offered  only  glass  beads  ;  and  the  needy 
colonists,  who  were  yet  struggling  to  maintain  themselves, 
were  required  to  repay  what  had  been  granted  them  (with 
ten  per  cent  interest)  by  preparing  cargoes  of  timber  "  at 
moderate  rates."  Their  Lordships  were  already  "  so  much 
out  of  purse  "  for  their  benefit  that  unless  punctual  pay- 
ment should  be  made,  the  settlers  should  expect  from 
them  no  ammunition  or  fish-hooks,  blankets  or  provisions. 
At  the  same  time  a  nobility  was  thrust  upon  them,  the 
first  set  of  the  "  unalterable  "  Fundamental  Constitutions 
were  repudiated  and  another  set  with  essential  alterations 
substituted,  and  numerous  laws  established  without  the  con- 
currence of  the  people  as  the  charter  provided,  and  to  which 
they  were  required  to  yield  an  unmurmuring  obedience. 

All  these  circumstances,  however,  were  not  yet  known 
in  the  infant  colony,  and  comparative  harmony  prevailed 
through  the  prudent  management  of  Governor  West,  who 


UNDER   THE  PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  143 

looked  rather  to  the  necessities  by  which  he  was  surrounded 
than  to  the  plans  and  theories  that  emanated  from  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic. ^ 

The  colony  increased  but  slowly.  The  Carolina  Packet^ 
having  returned  from  Virginia,  sailed  again  for  Barbadoes 
in  September,  1670.  Upon  her  arrival  there,  Major  Kings- 
land,  Thomas  Colleton,  and  Sir  John  Yeamans  issued  a 
proclamation  stating  that  the  Proprietors  had  provided 
the  vessel  for  the  transportation  of  such  people,  with  their 
servants,  negroes,  and  utensils,  as  would  be  ready  to  depart 
in  thirty  days.  They  promised  that  each  person  who  had 
underwritten  1000  pounds  of  muscovado  sugar  towards  de- 
fraying the  expenses  of  Captain  Hilton's  voyage  of  dis- 
covery in  1664  would  have  lands  allotted  to  him.  Those 
who  were  minded  to  go,  but  unable  to  pay  their  own  passage, 
would  be  transported  upon  their  agreeing,  within  two  years 
after  their  arrival,  to  pay  500  pounds  of  merchantable 
tobacco,  cotton,  or  ginger,  or  of  whatever  they  should  first 
produce.  Mr.  John  Strode  and  Mr.  Thomas  Colleton 
also  fitted  out  a  vessel  of  their  own,  the  John  and  Thomas^ 
and  made  great  exertions  to  procure  emigrants.  The 
Carolina  sailed  from  Barbadoes  early  in  1671,  with  sixty- 
four  new  settlers,  and  the  John  and  Thomas  took  to  the 
Ashley  forty-two  more.  Among  the  latter  was  Captain 
Godfrey,  who  had  been  a  deputy  in  the  CouncU  in  Barba- 
does and  who  went  out  upon  the  persuasion  of  Sir  John 
Yeamans.  He  took  with  him  five  men,  —  hands,  as  they 
were  called,  —  also  Mr.  Gray,  overseer  to  Sir  John,  who 
carried  ten  able  men,  most  of  them  carpenters  and  sawyers. ^ 
There  were  also  of  the  party  Captain  Thomson  and  Mr. 
Culpepper.     These,  Stephen  Bull  writes  to  Lord  Ashley, 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  104,  105. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  313, 
338,  344,  432. 


144  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

were  all  settled  within  five  days,  as  close  together  as  con- 
venient. The  greatest  distance  that  any  person  or  family 
is  seated,  he  says,  is  less  than  two  miles  either  up  or 
down  the  river  from  the  town.  In  August,  1671,  the 
Blessing  brought  out  several  families  from  England  and, 
sailing  at  once  for  New  York,  returned  in  December  with 
a  company  of  emigrants  from  the  Dutch  settlement  of 
Nova  Belgia,  which  had  recently  passed  under  English 
rule.  The  ship  Phoenix  also  brought  a  number  of  families 
from  the  same  place.  The  principal  of  these  new-comers 
was  Mr.  Michael  Smith  with  whom  a  committee  of  council 
were  directed  to  lay  off  a  town  to  be  named  James  Town, 
the  houses  in  which  should  be  twenty  feet  long  and  fifteen 
feet  broad  at  least.  It  was  ordained  that  in  future  a  list 
of  all  immigrants  should  be  recorded  in  the  Secretary's 
office  and  that  captains  of  vessels  should  give  bond  not  to 
carry  off  any  of  the  inhabitants  without  a  special  license. 
Before  the  furnishing  of  such  list  and  bond,  no  vessel 
could  land  any  part  of  its  cargo.  ^ 

On  the  20th  of  January  following,  1671-72,  Joseph  Dal- 
ton.  Secretary  of  the  colony,  writes  to  Lord  Ashley  :  "  By 
our  records  it  appears  that  337  men  and  women  62  children 
or  persons  under  16  years  of  age  is  the  full  number  of 
persons  who  have  arrived  in  the  country  in^  and  since  the 
first  fleet  out  of  England  to  this  day,  whereof  43  men  2 
women  3  children  are  dead,  and  16  absent  so  as  there  now 
remains  263  men  able  to  bear  arms  69  women,  59  children 
or  persons  under  16  years  of  age."^ 

With  the  Temporary  Laws,  a  model  of  a  town  was  also 
sent,  referring  to  which  Oldmixon,  writing  in  1708,  causti- 
cally observes :   "  It  will  be  well  if  the  people  of  Carolina 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  100. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial,  London,  1889,  786  ;  Year  Book 
City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  379  ;  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  100. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  145 

are  able  to  build  100  years  hence;  but  the  Proprietaries  as 
appears  by  their  constitutions  and  instructions  to  the  Gov- 
ernors thought  'twas  almost  as  easy  to  build  towns  as  to 
draw  schemes."  ^  Paying  no  attention  to  the  model,  and 
not  even  regarding  the  instructions  of  the  Proprietors  to 
the  Governor  and  Council  that  in  the  first  town  the  houses 
should  be  built  so  that  the  guns  of  the  fort  might  com- 
mand all  the  streets,  it  appears  that  the  land  was  promis- 
cuously taken  up  and  occupied  as  a  town  without  any 
regard  to  its  form  or  convenience.  As  early  as  the  1st  of 
November,  1670,  Lord  Ashley  wrote  to  West  that  he  was 
to  take  notice  that  Ashley  River  had  been  so  named  by 
Sandford,  and  was  still  so  to  be  called,  and  that  the  town 
as  now  planted  out  is  to  be  called  "  Charles  Town."  But 
it  was  not  until  the  1st  of  September,  1671,  that  the  name 
appears  to  have  been  adopted.^ 

In  order  to  provide  for  the  accommodation  of  the  newly 
arrived  emigrants,  the  Governor  and  Council,  on  the  5th  of 
September,  1671,  directed  the  Surveyor  General  to  lay  out 
a  town  on  Stono  Creek,  adjoining  land  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Gray,  near  Charles  Town,  containing  twenty-five  acres,  of 
which  five  acres  were  to  be  reserved  for  a  churchyard. 
For  the  Dutch  from  New  York,  on  the  20th  of  December,  a 
town  was  ordered  to  be  laid  out  on  a  creek  to  the  south 
of  Stono,  to  contain  thirty  acres.  The  place  was  soon 
abandoned,  the  settlers  spreading  themselves  over  the 
neighboring  country.  Lands  were  soon  taken  up  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Ashley,  and  settlements  were  formed  in 

1  Oldmixon,  Carolina  (Carroll's  Coll.),  405. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial,  London,  1889,  124,  195,  255, 
During  the  Proprietary  Government  the  name  of  the  town  was  written 
thus,  Charles  Town.  During  the  Royal  Government  it  was  written 
Charlestown;  and  since  the  incorporation  of  the  city,  after  the  Revo- 
lution (1783),  it  has  been  written  Charleston. 


146  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

various  parts  of  the  neighborhood.  On  the  24th  of  October 
commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Grand  Council  to 
examine  the  banks  of  the  Ashley  and  the  Wando,  or 
Cooper,  River,  "and  to  make  a  return  of  what  places 
might  be  most  convenient  to  situate  towns  upon,  that  the 
same  might  be  wholly  reserved  for  these  and  other  like 
uses."  And  again,  January  13,  1671-72,  Captain  John 
Godfrey,  Captain  Thomas  Gray,  and  Mr.  Maurice  Mathews 
were  appointed  to  so  view  Wando  River  and  there  to  mark 
such  place  or  places  as  they  should  think  most  convenient 
for  the  situation  of  a  town  or  towns,  and  to  report  thereof 
with  all  convenient  speed ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  no 
person  should  run  out  or  mark  any  lands  on  the  Wando 
or  any  of  its  creeks  until  such  report  should  be  made. 
The  colonists  were  thus  exploring  and  examining  the 
country  around  before  they  finally  settled  upon  the  per- 
manent location  of  the  town.^ 

While  they  were  thus  engaged,  the  Indians  began  to  be 
^  troublesome.  The  tribe  of  Kussoes,  inhabiting  northeast 
of  the  Combahee  River,  were  the  first  among  the  neigh- 
boring tribes  to  assume  an  attitude  of  open  hostility. 
The}^  and  their  confederates  in  the  small  tribes  began  in 
the  summer  of  1671  to  withdraw  themselves  from  their 
usual  familiar  intercourse  with  the  colonists,  and  to  dis- 
courage other  Indians  who  were  friendly  and  in  the  habit 
of  visiting  the  town  for  the  purpose  of  traffic.  The  Kus- 
soes declared  themselves  to  be  in  favor  of  the  Spaniards, 
with  whose  aid  they  intended  to  destroy  the  English 
settlements.  Day  by  day  their  behavior  became  more 
insolent,  and  on  every  slight  occasion  they  threatened  the 
lives  of  the  whites,  whose  property  and  provisions  they 
looked  upon  as  objects  of  plunder.  Every  unguarded 
farm  suffered  from  their  nightly  depredations.  More 
1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  12,  13. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  147 

open  acts  of  hostility  were  only  prevented  by  the  constant 
vigilance  of  the  settlers. 

On  the  27th  of  September  the  Governor  and  Council 
declared  war  against  the  Kussoes  and  their  confederates. 
Commissions  were  granted  to  Captain  Godfrey  and  Cap- 
tain Gray.  Two  Kussoes  who  were  then  in  town  were 
immediately  seized  and  placed  in  custody.  So  accus- 
tomed, says  Rivers,  were  the  colonists  to  be  on  the 
alert  and  to  bear  weapons  in  hand  to  protect  themselves 
from  surrounding  dangers  that  within  seven  days  com- 
panies were  formed,  the  enemy's  country  invaded  and 
surprised ;  many  of  the  Indians  were  taken  captive  and 
ordered  to  be  transported  from  Carolina,  unless  the  remain- 
ing Kussoes  sued  for  peace  and  paid  such  a  ransom  for  the 
prisoners  as  should  be  thought  reasonable  by  the  Grand 
Council.^ 

In  the  winter  of  1671  a  scarcity  of  provisions  rendered 
it  probable  that  the  settlers  would  suffer  great  distress. 
Governor  West  wisely  ordered  that  all  the  supplies  in  the 
store  of  the  Proprietors  should  be  frugally  distributed  to 
the  needy ;  that  all  occupations,  except  those  of  carpenters 
and  smiths,  should  be  suspended  for  the  planting  and 
gathering  of  a  crop  of  provisions  ;  that  in  future  no  one 
should  be  entitled  to  assistance  from  the  public  stores  who 
had  not  two  acres  well  planted  with  corn  or  peas  for  every 
person  in  his  family ;  and  that  slothful  and  loitering  per- 
sons should  be  put  in  charge  of  the  industrious  planters 
for  the  purpose  of  working  for  their  own  maintenance 
and  the  benefit  of  the  community. 

It  will  serve,  says  Rivers,  to  exhibit  the  condition  and 
progress  of  the  colony  during  West's  first  administration 
to  notice  the  legislative  measures  taken  by  him  with  the 
Grand  Council. 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  106. 


148  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

October^  1671.  The  regulation  of  the  secretary  fees ; 
the  rates  and  "scantings"  of  merchantable  pipe  staves, 
requiring  the  appointment  by  Council  of  one  or  more 
"  viewers  "  to  examine  all  pipe  staves  when  "  any  difference 
should  happen  upon  payment  or  exchange  between  party 
and  party  in  the  province  of  Carolina,"  and  fees  allowed 
for  the  performance  of  such  duties  ;  the  modelling  of  the 
proceedings  of  Council  in  the  determining  of  differences 
between  party  and  party. 

December^  1671.  Acts  relating  to  masters  trading  with 
servants  and  servants  purloining  their  masters'  goods ; 
prescribing  how  long  servants  coming  from  England  Avere 
to  serve,  and  how  long  servants  coming  from  Barbadoes 
were  likewise  to  serve  from  their  respective  arrivals ; 
that  none  may  retail  any  drink  without  license ;  for  the 
speedy  payment  of  the  Lords  Proprietors'  debts ;  and  pre- 
scribing "  at  what  rates  artificers  and  laborers  shall  work 
therein,"  i.e.  the  province. 

This  last  is  the  first  act  of  Parliament  we  find  to  be  rati- 
fied by  the  Proprietors  in  England. ^  No  courts  were  yet 
established,  nor  were  there  any  lawyers  in  the  colony,  but 
litigation  had  already  begun,  and  justice  was  roughly  ad- 
ministered by  the  Grand  Council.  Each  member  of  this 
body  was  required  to  swear  that  as  a  councillor  he  would 
assist  the  Governor  to  the  best  of  his  skill  and  ability  ;  that 
he  would  do  equal  justice  to  the  rich  and  to  the  poor  ; 
that  he  would  "  not  give  or  be  of  councill  for  favor  or  affec- 
tion in  a  difference  or  quarrell"  before  tlie  Council,  but  in 
all  things  demean  himself  as  equity  and  justice  required, 
observing  the  rules  and  directions  of  the  Lords  Proprietors 
and  the  laws  of  England  and  of  the  province  ;  and  that  he 
would  not  communicate  the  secrets  or  transactions  of  tlie 
Governor  and  Council  without  authority. ^ 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  106,  107.        2  m^^^  Appendix,  370. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  149 

The  first  case  of  litigation  in  the  colony  of  which  we 
have  a  record  was  that  upon  the  petition  of  John  Norton 
and  Originall  Jackson  against  Mr.  Maurice  Mathews,  Mr. 
Thomas  Gray,  and  Mr.  William  Ow-en.  On  August  28, 
1671,  it  was  ordered  that  the  petitioners  should  appear 
before  the  Governor  and  Council  upon  Saturday,  Sep- 
tember 9,  peremptorily  to  prosecute  the  complaint  against 
the  defendants.  When  that  day  came,  upon  hearing  the 
petition,  both  parties  having  referred  themselves  to  the 
determination  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  said  John  Norton  and  Originall  Jack- 
son should  have  sixteen  pieces  of  cedar  timber  desired 
and  one  piece  of  cedar  timber  more  claimed  by  the 
defendants.  The  Governor  and  Council  heard  another 
case  this  day  and  decided  tliat  Henry  Hughes  should  pay 
one  bushel  of  corn  to  Robert  Donne  for  his  labor  and 
pains  on  the  plantation  of  the  said  Henry  Hughes. 
Having  settled  these  cases,  the  Council  took  up  the  ad- 
dress of  two  servants  of  Mr.  John  Manerich  (^Maverick f^^ 
and  considering  how  industrious  and  useful  these  servants 
had  been  to  the  colony,  for  their  encouragement  ordered 
that  each  of  them  should  have  ten  acres  of  land  near  the 
town.  In  November  Mr.  Anthony  Churne  has  a  complaint 
against  the  now  notorious  Mr.  William  Owen,  but  the 
difference  is  referred  by  the  Grand  Council  to  the  arbi- 
tration of  Mr.  Edward  Mathews  and  INIr.  John  Culpepper. 
Mr.  Henry  Hughes  is  also  again  in  court ;  this  time  with 
a  serious  complaint  against  Thomas  Screman,  gentleman, 
"  for  that  the  said  Thomas  Screman  upon  the of  Octo- 
ber 1671  at  Charles  Town  did  feloniously  take  and  carry 
away  from  the  said  Henry  Hughes,  one  Turkey  Cock  of 
the  price  of  tenn  pence  of  lawful  money  contrary  to  the 
peace  of  our  sovereign  Lord  the  King,"  etc.  It  is  to  be 
observed   that   in   this  the  first  indictment  in  the  Pala- 


150  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

tine  province  of  Carolina  the  offence  is  laid  as  contra 
pacem  domini  regis^  and  not  against  the  peace  of  the 
Palatine,  as  might  have  been  under  such  a  government.^ 
The  Grand  Council  found  gentleman  Screman  guilty, 
and  without  jury  adjudged  him  to  be  stript  naked  to  the 
waist  and  to  receive  nine  lashes  by  a  whip,  to  be  admin- 
istered by  the  hand  of  Joseph  Oldys,  "who  is  adjudged  by 
the  Grand  Council,"  the  sentence  proceeded,  "to  be  stript 
naked  to  his  waist  to  perform  the  same  for  that  the  said 
Joseph  Oldys  knowing  of  the  felonious  act  aided  said 
Screman  and  endeavored  to  conceal  the  offence."  But 
the  Council  did  not  stay  its  hand  here.  It  turned  out  in 
the  evidence  that  Robert  Donne,  who  had  come  out  as  a 
servant  to  Stephen  Bull,  but  who  had  been  one  of  those 
elected  as  a  member  of  the  Council  at  Port  Royal,  and  to 
whom  Henry  Hughes  had  two  months  before  been  required 
to  pay  a  bushel  of  corn  for  services  rendered  and  now 
a  Captain  Lieutenant,  had  nevertheless  been  "  comforting 
aiding  and  assisting  the  said  Screman  to  commit  the 
said  fact " ;  whereupon  the  Grand  Council  ordered  him  to 

appear  on  the of  December  at  the  head  of  the  company 

whereof  he  was  Captain  Lieutenant,  with  his  sword  on, 
and  there  to  have  his  sword  taken  from  him  by  the 
Marshal,  and  to  be  cashiered  from  his  command.  Dennis 
Mahown,  servant  to  Mr.  John  Cole,  for  having  twice 
run  away  from  his  master,  attempting  to  escape  to  the 
Spaniards,  was  ordered  to  receive  thirty -nine  lashes  upon 
his  naked  back.  Captain  Thomas  Gray  makes  complaint 
against  Sir  John  Yeamans,  Baronet,  "for  felling  and 
carrying  away  severall  quantityes  from  a  certaine  parcell 
of  land  neare  the  Towne  belonging  to  him  the  said  Capt. 
Gray.  It  is  also  ordered  by  the  Grand  Councill  aforesaid 
that  an  injunction  be  issued  out  under  the  Governor's 
1  Blackstone's  Com.^  vol.  I,  117. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY    GOVERNMENT  151 

hand,"  etc.^  Thus  were  equity  and  law,  civil  and  criminal 
proceedings,  promiscuously  administered  and  perhaps  with 
as  much  substantial  justice  as  could  have  been  by  a 
regularly  organized  court. 

It  had  been  rumored,  even  before  Sayle's  death,  that 
Sir  John  Yeamans  would  be  appointed  Governor  by  the 
Lords  Proprietors,  and  the  report  was  received  with  great 
disfavor.  The  day  before  the  Governor's  death  West 
writes  to  Lord  Ashley  that  he  lies  in  a  very  weak  con- 
dition, and  past  all  hope  of  recovery.  He  hopes  that  an 
honest  and  able  Governor  may  speedily  be  sent  over  — 
one  that  desires  to  serve  God  above  all  worldly  interest. 
"  If  Sir  John  Yeamans  comes  amongst  them  again,  it  is  to 
be  feared  a  hopeful  settlement  will  soon  be  elapsed."  ^ 
The  Council  wrote  on  the  4th,  announcing  Sayle's  death  and 
informing  the  Proprietors  of  their  choice  of  Joseph  West  to 
be  Governor  until  they  learn  their  Lordships'  pleasure,  and 
add  that  it  had  been  hinted  that  their  Honors  had  designed 
to  commissionate  Sir  John  Yeamans  again  as  Governor ; 
they  had  good  reason  to  believe  the  contrary,  "  for  it  doth 
breed  a  very  great  dissatisfaction  to  the  people."^ 

Sir  John,  having  abandoned  the  colony  at  Cape  Fear, 
and  having  again  abandoned  the  colony  destined  for  Port 
Royal  and  left  it  at  Bermuda,  had  now  come  to  Carolina 
and  was  at  present  on  the  Ashley,  felling  timber.  He  had 
brought  with  him  from  Barbadoes  his  negro  slaves,  —  the 
first  introduced  into  Carolina,  —  and  had  built  a  house  in 
the  town.  We  shall  soon  see  how  his  presence  affected 
the  condition  of  the  colony ;  for  the  present  the  extracts 
we  have  given  from  the  records  of  the  Grand  Council 
enables  us  to  gauge  somewhat  the  material  and  social 
condition  of  the  colony  at  this  time. 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  371,  377. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  428. 
8  Ibid.,  433. 


CHAPTER  VII 

1671-74 

It  was  the  observation  of  a  great  political  philosopher 
that  so  deeply  seated  is  the  tendency  to  conflict  between 
the  different  interests  or  portions  of  a  community,  that 
parties  would  be  formed,  even  though  it  would  be  possible 
to  find  a  community  where  the  people  were  all  of  the  same 
pursuits,  placed  in  the  same  condition  of  life,  and  in  every 
respect  so  situated  as  to  be  without  inequality  of  con- 
dition or  diversity  of  interest. ^  Tlie  truth  of  this  was 
singularly  illustrated  in  the  planting  of  Carolina.  It 
might  have  been  expected,  observes  another  writer,  that 
these  adventurers,  who  were  all  embarked  on  the  same 
design,  would  be  animated  by  one  spirit  and  zealous  to 
maintain  harmony  and  peace  among  themselves,  for  they 
had  all  the  same  hardships  to  encounter  and  the  same 
enemies  to  fear ;  yet  the  reverse  took  place. ^  But  while 
there  doubtless  existed  the  strongest  motives  to  unity  and 
harmony  among  these  pioneers  in  the  province,  —  motives 
of  interest  and  of  apprehension  of  danger  which  pressed  on 
all  alike,  —  unfortunately  there  was  added  to  the  natural 
tendency  to  the  formation  of  parties  in  all  communities, 
the  irresistible  influence  of  the  extraordinary  forms  of 
government  under  which  they  had  embarked. 

Not  only  were  the  Governor  and  Council  sworn  to  the 

1  A  Disquisition  on  Government^  Calhoun's  works,  vol.  I,  17. 

2  Hewatt,  vol.  I,  75. 

162 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  153 

observance  of  the  instructions  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  and 
to  the  enforcement  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  these  Constitutions,  as  the  unalterable 
form  and  rule  of  government,  had  been  engrossed  on 
parchment  and  after  having  been  signed  and  sealed  by 
the  Governor,  were  required  to  be  subscribed  by  every 
person  before  he  was  admitted  to  take  up  lands  in  the 
province.^  These  instructions  to  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil, as  well  as  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  so  solemnly 
adopted,  upon  the  test  of  actual  experiment  were  found 
to  be  utterly  impracticable  in  application.  Here  in  the 
very  beginning  of  the  colony  was  there  an  artificial  as 
well  as  natural  foundation  of  two  parties.  What  more 
certain  cause  of  difference  could  there  be  than  a  written 
constitution  incapable  of  enforcement?  Poor  old  Gov- 
ernor Sayle,  weak  in  mind  as  well  as  body,  accustomed 
only  to  the  command  of  a  ship  under  instructions  from 
his  employers,  finds  himself  confronted  by  the  first  "  strict 
constructionists "  of  Carolina,  pointing  out  to  him  the 
inconsistencies  and  absurdities  of  his  orders.  Sayle  suc- 
cumbed to  the  burden,  physical  and  mental,  but  the  ques- 
tions brought  over  from  Whitehall  remained. 

Two  parties  had  already  been  formed.  The  Council 
—  the  government  party  —  finding  their  instructions 
impracticable,  and  yet  with  the  responsibility  of  the 
government  upon  them,  for  the  present,  at  least,  more 
concerned  for  the  immediate  safety  and  welfare  of  the 
colonists  than  for  the  maintenance  of  the  wild  schemes  of 
the  Proprietors,  were  inclined  to  stretch  their  powers. ^ 
The  Owen  and  Scrivener  party  on  the  other  hand,  from 
whatever  motives  actuated,  were  endeavoring  to  hold  the 
Governor  and  Council  to  a  strict  compliance  with  the  terms 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  418. 

2  jua.,  105. 


154  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

of  the  parchment  they  had  been  required  to  subscribe. 
These  divisions  had  already  arisen  among  the  colonists 
from  England.  There  was  another  element  in  the  com- 
position of  the  colony  now  asserting  itself,  of  which  the 
Governor  was  very  jealous,  i.e.  the  Barbadian  immi- 
grants, bringing  with  them  as  they  did  colonial  experi- 
ence, habits,  and  customs,  which  had  grown  out  of,  and 
were  more  practically  adapted  to,  the  condition  of  colonial 
society  —  rather  than  the  fine-spun  theories  and  grand 
governmental  structures  of  a  philosopher  and  doctrinaire. 
The  immigrants  from  England  were  all  strangers  to  the 
business  of  settling  plantations  in  the  new  country.  The 
Colletons,  Sir  John  Yeamans,  Captain  Henry  Braine,  Dr. 
Henry  Woodward,  Captains  Godfrey  and  Gray,  old  colo- 
nists, looked  down  upon  the  new-comers  to  America  as 
novices  in  colonial  life  and  government,  and  were  dissatis- 
fied with  their  management  of  the  colony.  It  was  by  the 
Governor  and  the  Council's  "ill  contriving,"  they  said, 
"that  neither  Mr.  Rivers  nor  the  rest  had  been  brought 
away  from  "  St.  Augustine. ^  Braine  had  written  before 
Sayle's  death  that  he  would  pawn  his  life  that  Sayle  "  is 
one  of  the  unfittest  men  in  the  world  for  the  place,"  and 
"  his  being  Governor  keeps  our  settlement  very  chargeable 
to  their  Lordships.  But  though  the  Governor  is  crazy  yet 
if  there  were  a  wise  Council,  or  three  or  four  men  of 
reason,  planters^  who  knew  what  did  belong  to  settle  such 
a  country,  it  would  be  to  the  good  of  the  country  and  their 
Lordships'  interests." 

We  do  not  know  exactly  when  Sir  John  Yeamans 
arrived  in  Carolina.  On  the  15th  of  November,  1670,  he 
writes  from  Barbadoes  to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  sending 
"  12  cedar  planks  as  the  first  fruits  of  that  glorious  prov- 
ince," i.e.  Carolina.     He  was  still  there  in  the  early  part 

1  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  343,  346. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  155 

of  the  year  1671,  superintending  the  transportation  of  the 
immigrants  he  had  secured.  And  Lord  Ashley  addressed 
him  there  in  April,  thanking  him  "  for  the  first  fruits  of 
their  plantation  at  Ashley  from  his  hands."  ^  As  late  as 
May  the  Proprietors  instructed  Captain  Halsted  if  he 
traded  at  Barbadoes  to  consult  Yeamans  there. ^  It  ap- 
pears, however,  from  a  letter  of  Governor  West  to  Lord 
Ashley  that  he  had  arrived  in  the  colony,  at  the  latest, 
early  in  July,  and  had  expected  to  have  been  at  once 
recognized  as  Governor  by  reason  of  his  being  a  Land- 
grave. West  writes  that  within  two  or  three  days  of  his 
arrival  Sir  John  retired  to  his  country  house  disgusted 
"that  the  people  did  not  incline  to  salute  him  Governor." 
He  says  that  as  more  people  had  arrived,  on  the  8th  of 
July,  he,  West,  had  summoned  all  the  freemen  and  re- 
quested them  to  elect  twenty  persons  to  be  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, which  was  done  in  three  days ;  that  Sir  John  was 
chosen  Speaker,  but  that  a  dispute  arose  about  choosing  a 
clerk,  and  whether  West  was  made  Governor  according 
to  the  Lords  Proprietors'  directions.  Sir  John  also  made 
the  point,  he  said,  that  there  must  be  three  deputies  be- 
sides the  Governor,  and  that  it  would  be  in  vain  for  them 
to  proceed  unless  West  would  surrender  his  power  as 
Governor  and  make  the  third  deputy.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  five  original  deputies  were  West,  Scrivener, 
Bull,  Bowman,  and  O'SuUivan.  Bowman  had  not  come 
out,  and  the  Council  had  suspended  Scrivener,  so  that  to 
comply  with  the  Proprietors'  instructions  requiring  at 
least  three  deputies  to  constitute  a  quorum.  West  must 
be  counted  as  well  a  deputy  as  Governor.  West  would 
not  adopt  Sir  John's  view,  but  dissolved  the  Parlia- 
ment ;  Sir  John  and  his  party  went  away  much  dissatis- 

1  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  492. 

2  Ibid.,  516. 


166     .  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

fied.  West  writes  that  Yeamans's  conduct  was  much 
resented  by  the  people,  who  began  to  murmur  that  "  Sir 
John  intended  to  make  this  a  Cape  Fear  settlement."  ^ 

Five  days  after,  West  summoned  the  Parliament  again 
to  elect  five  councillors ;  when  Sir  John,  says  West, 
preached  the  doctrine  that  in  all  elections  those  who  will 
stand  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  Governor  should 
be  chosen. 2  We  have  the  record  of  this  Parliament,  the 
first  held  in  the  province.  It  was  held  on  the  25th  of 
August,  1671,  at  Charles  Town,  upon  Ashley  River,  and 
the  five  persons  chosen  to  represent  the  people  were  Mr. 
Thomas  Gray,  Mr.  Maurice  Mathews,  Lieutenant  Henry 
Hughes,  Mr.  Christopher  Portman,  and  Mr.  Ralph  Mar- 
shall. These  were  presented  to  the  Governor  and  the  Lords 
Proprietors'  deputies  as  members  of  the  Grand  Council  for 
the  people.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Governor  and  Council 
on  the  28th,  there  were  sitting  and  present  the  Governor, 
Sir  John  Yeamans,  Captain  John  Godfrey,  Mr.  William 
Owen,  Mr.  Thomas  Gray,  Mr.  John  Foster,  Mr.  Maurice 
Mathews,  Mr.  Henry  Hughes,  and  Mr.  Ralph  Marshall.^ 
The  Barbadians  had  already  acquired  position.  Sir  John 
Yeamans  appears  as  deputy  for  Lord  Berkeley,  John 
Godfrey  for  Earl  Craven,  and  Thomas  Gray  represents 
the  people  in  the  Council.  John  Coming,  Halsted's 
mate,  writes  to  Sir  John  Colleton  that  the  Barbadians 
endeavor  to  rule  all.*  They  had  joined  Owen,  Mathews, 
and  Sullivan  against  Governor  West.^  Lord  Ashley 
was  the  recipient  of  complaints  from  all  parties.  West, 
Bull,  Braine,  Godfrey,  and  Dalton  all  complain  of  O'Sul- 

1  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  612. 

2  Ihid. 

SDalcho's  Ch.Hist.,  11. 

4  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  277, 
664. 

6  Ibid.,  279. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  157 

livan  as  incompetent  as  a  Surveyor  ;  some  of  them  object 
to  his  conduct.^  Yeamans  charges  that  West  is  proud  and 
peevish,  and  will  not  call  a  Parliament  for  fear  his  election 
or  actions  should  be  questioned.^  Halsted  says  that  West 
is  a  person  faithful  and  stout,  but  no  good  Governor;  that 
Yeamans  is  disaffected  and  too  selfish.^  Gray  accuses 
West  of  turning  Scrivener  and  Mathews  out  of  the  Coun- 
cil, and  declaring  he  cared  not  what  became  of  the  govern- 
ment. Lord  Ashley  replies  to  them  all,  addressing  each 
as  his  "very  affectionate  friend."  John  Locke's  con- 
nection with  Carolina  was  not  only  as  the  author  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  but  it  is  well  known  that 
he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  settling  of  the  colony. 
Living  at  Exeter  House  with  Lord  Ashley  as  his  secre- 
tary, he  continued  to  attend  to  its  affairs,  and  took  great 
part  in  its  management  during  Shaftesbury's  rule.  Many 
of  the  letters  in  the  letter  book  of  the  Shaftesbury  col- 
lection are  in  his  handwriting,  and  it  may  be  inferred 
that  these  of  Lord  Ashley  were  all  written  by  him.* 

The  Fundamental  Constitutions  provided  that  the  eldest 
of  the  Lords  Proprietors  who  should  be  personally  present 
in  Carolina  should,  of  course,  be  the  Palatine's  deputy; 
and  if  no  Proprietor  be  present,  then  the  eldest  of  the 
Landgraves.  Sir  John  Yeamans  now  asserted  his  right 
under  this  provision.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Grand  Council 
on  the  14th  of  December  he  claimed  that  as  he  was  a  Land- 
grave —  and  the  only  Landgrave  present,  —  he  was  there- 
fore Vice  Palatine,  and  consequently  Governor  of  the 
province ;  ^  it  does  not  appear,  however,  that  he  could  get 

1  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  259, 
278,  329,  472,  73G. 

2  Ibid.,  278,  664. 

3  Ibid.,  278. 

*  Ibid. ,  Preface,  xxi. 
6  md.,  281. 


158  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

even  the  support  of  the  Barbadians  in  the  Council  for  the 
claim,  which  was  certainly  not  without  foundation.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Council  "  resolved  and  advised  (nemine 
contra  dicenti)  that  it  is  not  safe  or  warrantable  to  re- 
move the  government  as  it  is  at  "present,  until  a  signal 
nomination  from  the  Palatine  or  further  orders  or  di- 
rections be  received  from  the  Lords  Proprietors."  ^ 

Yeamans  had  in  fact,  however,  already  been  commis- 
sioned as  Governor.  His  commission  is  dated  August 
21,  1671  ;  but  it  was  not  sent  until  September  18,  when 
Lord  Ashley  writes  he  is  glad  to  know  that  Sir  John 
is  in  Carolina,  and  shall  expect  good  success  to  their 
new  settlement  when  it  shall  be  countenanced  and  con- 
ducted by  so  judicious  and  worthy  a  person.  He  has, 
therefore,  sent  him  a  commission,  and  relies  upon  his 
being  firm  and  industrious  in  settling  the  government. ^ 
To  Mr.  West,  "his  very  affectionate  friend,"  he  writes 
December  16,  explaining  that  it  was  through  no  per- 
sonal dislike  or  disrespect  to  him  that  Sir  John  Yeamans 
was  made  Governor,  but  the  nature  of  the  government, 
which  required  that  a  Landgrave  should  be  preferred  to 
any  commoner. ^  As  a  reward  for  West's  services,  the 
Proprietors  created  him  a  Cacique,  made  him  Registrar 
of  Writings,  and  required  that  not  only  the  titles  of 
the  Proprietors,  but  that  all  deeds  amongst  the  colonists, 
should  be  recorded,  as  provided  by  the  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions ;  no  deed  to  be  good  without  registry.* 

To  another  State  has  been  given  the  credit  for  first 
devising  a  system    of  recording   deeds   and   mortgages.^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  108;  Appendix,  377. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,606,  630. 
«  Ibid.,  695. 

*  Ibid.,  721,  865,  870. 

*  Massachusetts.  The  Puritan  in  England,  Scotland,  and  America 
(Campbell),  vol.  I,  75  et  seq.    The  recording  of  ordinary  conveyances 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  159 

We  here  see  the  registry  system  was  adopted  in  Carolina 
with  the  very  inception  of  its  settlement.  The  truth  is 
that  from  the  very  necessities  of  the  occasion  a  registration 
of  the  surveys  and  grants  of  land  in  the  new  country  was 
indispensable.  The  Domesday  Book  of  William  the  Con- 
queror was  the  registration  of  the  surveys  and  grants  of 
the  lands  of  England  made  by  him,  and  to  that  ancient 
record  must  the  title  of  all  lands  be  traced.  Once  the 
redistribution  of  the  lands  in  England  was  made  and 
recorded,  the  metes  and  bounds  were  preserved  by  the 
people  who  were  then  settled  upon  them,  and  when  any 
questions  arose  as  to  their  location,  they  were  settled  by 
the  "  perambulation  "  or  "  viewing  "  by  the  parishioners 
or  neighbors.  The  boundaries  in  England  were  thus 
perpetually  preserved  by  custom  and  tradition  ;  but  in 
settling  a  new  country,  especially  one  cut  up  by  rivers  and 
swamps,  the  survey  and  map  alone  could  locate  and  de- 
began  at  an  early  period  in  Virginia.  In  October,  1626,  the  rule  was  laid 
down  by  the  General  Court  that  the  documents  in  all  sales  of  land  in 
Virginia  should  be  brought  to  Jamestown  and  enrolled  in  that  court  in 
the  space  of  twelve  months  and  a  day  following  the  date  of  each.  There 
are  many  records  of  conveyances  between  private  parties  prior  to  1630. 
Economic  Hist,  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  (Bruce),  1896,  vol. 
I,  570.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  American  idea  of  registration.  Even 
before  the  conquest  in  England,  publicity  of  transfer  was  secured  by 
a  system  of  record  in  the  shire  or  church  book.  After  the  conquest,  the 
publicity  continued  for  a  time  in  Domesday  Book  and  for  some  purposes 
by  the  Statute  of  Enrolments,  27  Henry  VIII,  c.  16.  A  registry  was 
established  for  the  Bedford  Level  in  the  same  year  that  the  first  charter 
of  Carolina  to  the  Proprietors  was  granted,  1663.  There  were  frequent 
efforts  to  establish  a  general  registration  law  in  England.  Lord  Keeper 
Guilford  warmly  advocated  a  registration  system,  but  it  was  opposed 
by  Lord  Chief  Justice  Hale.  North's  Lives  of  the  Norths^  vol.  I,  224. 
There  was,  however,  a  great  prejudice  in  England  against  the  system. 
Blackstone  observed  that  however  plausible  such  provisions  might  appear, 
it  was  doubted  by  very  competent  judges  whether  more  disputes  were  not 
caused  in  those  counties  in  which  the  system  prevailed,  by  inattention 
and  omissions  of  parties,  than  had  been  prevented.    2  Com.^  c.  20. 


160  HISTORY   O^   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

scribe  the  grant,  which  was  defined  merely  by  imaginary 
lines.  There  could  be  no  such  thing  as  the  actual  delivery 
of  possession  of  lands  occupied  only  by  Indians  and  wild 
beasts ;  hence  again  it  became  necessary  to  record  not 
only  the  original  surveys,  but  all  transfers  of  the  rights 
granted  under  them.  The  office  of  Surveyor  General 
was  also  therefore  of  great  consequence,  especially  under 
the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  which  required  the  whole 
province  to  be  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  seigniories, 
baronies,  and  colonies.  Captain  Florence  O'SuUivan 
was  the  first  Surveyor  General,  but  the  complaints  against 
him  were  numerous.  He  was  no  surveyor,  it  was  said, 
and  was  charged  with  ignorance  and  incompetence,  with 
promising  much  and  performing  nothing.^  So  with  the 
commission  of  Governor  to  Sir  John  Yeamans,  the  Lords 
Proprietors  sent  out  one  as  Surveyor  General  to  John 
Culpepper,  who  had  come  out  with  him  from  Barbadoes.^ 
These  commissions  were  issued  in  December,  1671,^  and 
Culpepper  appears  to  have  at  once  entered  upon  his  duty ; 
for  while  West  was  still  Governor,  Culpepper  made  a 
rough  draught  or  sketch  of  the  settlement  of  Charles  Town 
for  the  Proprietors,  giving  the  location  of  the  tracts  of  land 
and  town  lots  taken  up  by  the  colonists.  In  this  plat  it 
is  to  be  observed  that  lie  marks  a  certain  tract  of  300 
acres  as  "  Land  reserved  by  Governor  &  Counsell  to  be 
disposed  of  at  their  pleasure,  I  suppose  for  a  minister  or 
governor." 

On  April  19,  1672,  Sir  John  Yeamans  was  proclaimed 
at  Charles  Town  and  a  proclamation  was  also  immediately 
issued  to  dissolve  "  all  parliament  and  parliamentary  con- 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  184, 
278,  329,  621,  736. 

2  Ibid.,  688. 

8  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  98. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  l6l 

nections  heretofore  had  or  made  in  the  province,"  and  all 
the  freemen  in  the  colony  were  summoned  to  assemble 
on  the  20th  to  elect  a  new  Parliament.  Twenty  mem- 
bers were  accordingly  elected,  who  chose  from  their  num- 
ber, as  members  of  the  Grand  Council,  Stephen  Bull, 
Christopher  Portman,  Richard  Conant,  Ralph  Marshall, 
and  John  Robinson.  The  deputies  were  Colonel  West, 
Captain  Thomas  Gray,  Captain  John  Godfrey,  Maurice 
Mathews,  and  William  Owen.^ 

In  the  letter  accompanying  his  commission.  Lord  Ashley 
writes  to  Governor  Yeamans  recommending  him  to  make 
another  port  town  on  the  Ashley,  and  giving  him  directions 
as  to  the  choice  of  the  ground.  The  present  site  was  too 
low,  it  must  needs  be  unhealthy,  and  would  bring  dis- 
repute upon  their  new  settlement.  He  must  lay  out  the 
great  port  town  into  regular  streets,  for,  be  the  buildings 
never  so  mean  and  thin  at  first,  yet  as  the  town  increases 
in  riches  and  people  the  void  places  will  be  filled  up  and 
the  buildings  will  grow  more  beautiful.  He  recommends 
six  score  squares  of  300  feet  each,  to  be  divided  one  from 
the  other  by  streets  and  alleys,  and  that  no  man  should 
have  above  one  of  those  squares  to  one  house.  The 
great  street  should  not  be  less  than  100  or  six  score  feet 
broad ;  the  lesser  streets  none  less  than  sixty ;  alleys 
eight  or  ten  feet. 

The  first  acts  of  the  new  administration  were  directed 
to  the  survey  and  recording  of  the  lands  granted  to  the 
settlers  with  a  view  to  the  more  definite  claims  of  quit- 
rent  and  the  introduction  of  more  of  the  forms  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions.  Stricter  regulations  were 
ordained  against  persons  leaving  the  colony.  Those  who 
should  desire  to  do  so  were  required  to  set  up  their  names 
in  the  Secretary's  office,  and  if  any  person  objected  to  their 
1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  109. 


162  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

departure  he  wrote  his  name  within  twenty-one  days 
beneath  the  names  so  set  up,  and  the  reasons  for  his 
objection  were  heard  by  the  Council  before  a  permission 
for  leave  could  be  obtained.  On  the  27th  of  June,  1673, 
the  Council  ordered  an  extension  of  the  time  of  advertise- 
ment to  six  weeks.  Such  a  provision  was  common  to 
the  colonies  and  was  intended  to  prevent  debtors  from 
absconding.  So  Halsted  writes  to  Shaftesbury  that  he 
carries  no  one  from  Barbadoes  without  a  ticket.^  It  was 
resolved  by  the  Council  that  for  the  better  safety  of  the 
settlement  the  Governor  should  live  in  town.  This,  it  is 
supposed,  was  induced  because  Sir  John  Yeamans  had 
retired  to  his  country  house  when  the  people  refused  to 
recognize  him  as  Governor  upon  his  arrival. 

In  pursuance  of  his  instructions.  Governor  Yeamans 
proceeded  to  lay  out  the  site  of  another  town.  It  so 
happened  that  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Charleston,  — 
the  point  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  Kiawha,  or  Ash- 
ley, and  the  Wando,  or  Cooper,  River  —  had  been  taken  up 
by  Henry  Hughes  and  John  Coming.  With  Hughes  the 
readers  of  this  history  are  well  acquainted.  Coming  had 
come  out  as  mate  of  Henry  Braine,  captain  of  the 
Carolina.  Halsted  describes  him  as  a  good  sailor  but 
ambitious. 2  Tradition  relates  that  his  conduct  having 
been  criticised  for  the  loss  of  a  vessel  on  Charles  Town 
bar,  which  was  charged  to  have  been  from  cowardice,  he 
crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a  longboat,  which  he  raised  and 
decked  for  the  purpose  to  vindicate  his  courage.^  He 
subsequently  became  a  prosperous  planter  in  the  province. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  110;  Calendar  State  Papers, 
Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  326.  A  similar  regulation  pre- 
vailed in  Virginia.    See  Brace's  Economic  Hist,  of  Va.,  vol.  II,  367. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  326. 

8  MSS.  of  Elias  Ball,  now  in  possession  of  Mr.  Isaac  Ball  of  Charleston. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  163 

As  early  as  February  25,  IGJl-rJ^Hughes  and  Coming, 
the  latter  with  his  wife  Affra^  appeared  before  the  Grand 
Council  and  voluntarily  surrendered  the  half  of  their 
lands  upon  Oyster  Point,  "  to  be  employed  in  and  toward 
the  outlaying  of  a  town  and  commons  of  pasture  there 
intended  to  be  erected. "^  On  the  20th  of  July  Governor 
Yeamans  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  Council  issued  the 
following  warrant  to  John  Culpepper:  — 

"^  "You  are  forthwith  to  admeasure  and  lay  out  for  a  town  on 
Oyster  point  all  that  point  of  land  then  formerly  allotted  for  the  same 
adding  thereto  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  or  so  much  thereof 
as  you  shall  find  to  be  proportionable  for  the  said  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  in  the  breadth  of  land  formerly  marked  to  be  laid  out  for 
Mr.  Henry  Hughes  Mr.  John  Coining  and  Affra  his  now  wife,  and 
James  Robinson  estimated  to  be  seven  hundred  acres,"  etc. 

Mr.  Hughes's  land  was  retained  by  the  Grand  Council ; 
Mr.  Coming's  was  released.  The  town  thus  laid  off 
originally  extended  no  farther  west  than  the  present 
Meeting  Street,  nor  farther  north  than  Broad  Street,  nor 
south  than  Water  Street.  The  land  to  the  south  of  the 
town  obtained  the  name  of  Coming's  Point  and  White 
Point,  no  doubt  from  the  whiteness  of  the  oyster  shells 
upon  it.  It  was  not,  however,  as  yet  intended  to  aban- 
don the  old  town  on  the  Ashley  ;  for  the  settlers  there 
were  then  engaged  in  building  a  fort  which  was  finished 
in  May,  1672,  and  in  June  an  act  was  passed  for  the 
uniform  rebuilding  of  the  town.  In  accordance  with 
this  act,  the  old  town  was  laid  out  anew  and  was  divided 
into  sixty-two  lots.  Those  who  owned  lots  gave  them  up 
and  a  redistribution  was  made  on  the  22d  of  July.^ 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist,  15. 

2  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  persons  to  whom  the  lots  were 
assigned  and  the  numbers  given  them.  The  list  is  useful  as  giving  the 
names  of  the  principal  people  then  in  the  colony:  Thomas  Ingram,  No. 
58  ;  Samuel  West,  31 ;  William  Owen,  32,  23 ;  Captain  Henry  Braine,  30  ; 


164  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Colonel  West,  the  former  Governor,  besides  being  reg- 
ister of  writings,  was  superintendent  of  the  plantation 
and  stores  of  the  Proprietors,  and  thus  especially  charged 
with  the  care  of  their  individual  interests.  In  June,  1672, 
he  procured  an  order  from  the  Council  that  twenty  persons 
from  the  debtors  to  the  Proprietors  should  furnish  ser- 
vants to  cut  and  prepare  a  cargo  of  lumber  for  the  Bless- 
ing  at  its  next  arrival.  Governor  Yeamans,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  entering  upon  plans  which  demanded  an  in- 
creased expenditure  of  the  private  resources  of  the  Pro- 
prietors. The  colony  was  placed  in  a  state  of  security 
against  invasion,  cannon  were  mounted  at  Stono  Creek, 
and  a  "  great  gun  "  was  fired  at  Charles  Town  on  the  ap- 
proach of  any  vessel.  The  inhabitants  were  armed  and 
six  companies  were  enrolled  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Godfrey.  Surely  these  were  all  legitimate  and  proper 
expenses  to  be  borne  by  the  owners  of  a  large  part  of 
the  great  new  Continent, — but  the  Proprietors,  in  their 
niggardly  conduct,  bitterly  complained   that   instead   of 

Lieutenant  Henry  Hughes,  3  ;  John  Coming,  29  ;  Captain  Florence  O' Sul- 
livan, 5,  6,  26,  27 ;  John  Williamson,  7  ;  Ralph  Marshall,  8 ;  Captain 
Stephen  Bull,  25,  24  ;  Captain  Joseph  Bayley,  9  ;  Sir  John  Yeamans,  22  ; 
Richard  Deyos,  19 ;  James  Jours,  14 ;  Thomas  Turpin,  33 ;  Priscilla 
Burke,  28  ;  Major  Thomas  Gray,  10 ;  John  Foster,  11 ;  Richard  Batin, 
13  ;  Henry  Wood,  15  ;  George  Beadon,  40,  20  ;  Ensign  Hugh  Carteret,  18  ; 
Captain  George  Thomas,  bought  of  William  Kennis,  16,  17  ;  Captain 
Nathaniel  Sayle,  59,  60  ;  Thomas  Hurt,  for  his  wife,  61  ;  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors, 50,  51,  52,  53,  62  ;  Captain  Maurice  Mathews,  37,  54  ;  Michael 
Smith,  38  ;  Thomas  Thompson,  55  ;  Captain  Gyles  Hall,  12  ;  Thomas  and 
James  Smith,  41,  57  ;  Richard  Cole,  42 ;  Joseph  Dal  ton,  44  ;  John  Pinkerd, 
36^~lTbseph  Pendafvis,  45 ;  John  Maverick,  43  ;  Philip  Comerton,  number 
not  designated,  but  either  21,  39,  48,  49,  which  are  not  stated  to  have  been 
delivered  ;  Christopher  Portman,  4  ;  Ensign  Henry  Prettye,  56  ;  Timothy 
Biggs,  34 ;  Charles  Miller,  46  ;  John  Culpepper,  35  ;  Captain  John  Robin- 
son, 47  ;  Ensign  Boone,  2  ;  and  Edward  Mathews,  1.  See  Fragment  of 
Journals  in  Grant  Book,  1672-94,  Sec.  of  State's  office,  Columbia ;  Dalcho's 
Ch.  Hist,  17,  18;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  128. 


UNDER    THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  165 

being  repaid  what  had  already  been  advanced  by  them, 
a  debt  of  several  thousand  pounds  had  been  incurred  be- 
fore the  end  of  1673  and  that  they  were  still  solicited  for 
further  aid  and  a  stock  of  cattle  from  England.  A  more 
serious  charge  against  Sir  John  was  that,  while  the  settlers 
could  scarcely  raise  sufficient  provisions  for  their  own  con- 
sumption, he  was  buying  up  the  produce  of  the  colony  and 
exporting  it  at  great  gain  to  the  Island  of  Barbadoes. 

The  Proprietors  had  scarcely  commissioned  Sir  John 
before  letters  from  Carolina  arrived,  telling  how  he  had 
claimed  the  government  under  the  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions without  waiting  their  appointment,  and  of  his  great 
unpopularity.  The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  to  which  dignity 
Lord  Ashley  had  just  been  raised  (April  23,  1672),  upon 
the  receipt  of  these  complaints  sends,  a  letter,  no  doubt 
written  by  Locke,  "  a  masterpiece  of  composition "  as  it 
has  been  said,^  in  which  he  gently  remonstrates  with  "his 
very  affectionate  friend  Sir  John"  and  advises  him  "not  to 
make  use  of  the  government  put  into  his  hands  to  revenge 
himself  on  any  who  had  spoken  their  apprehensions  mth 
that  freedom  which  must  be  allowed  in  a  country  wherein 
men  are  not  designed  to  be  oppressed,  and  where  they 
may  justly  expect  equal  justice  and  protection."  He  had 
too  great  a  value  for  Sir  John's  condition  and  ability,  he 
said,  not  to  desire  the  continuance  of  a  right  understand- 
ing between  them,  and  therefore  must  take  the  liberty  to 
deal  freely  with  him  in  a  matter  wherein  they  were  both 
concerned,  and  to  tell  him  that  he  could  not  avoid  think- 
ing that  the  suspicions  of  those  who  had  expressed  some 
fear  of  his  management  of  the  government  had  some 
ground.  His  too  forward  conduct  in  grasping  at  the 
government  when  he  first  arrived   in   Carolina,  and  his 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  Preface, 
xxi. 


166  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

endeavors  since  to  diminish  the  authority  of  certain  depu- 
ties who  had  power  to  represent  the  Proprietors,  had 
even  at  that  distance  given  some  umbrage. ^ 

While  the  Proprietors,  on  the  one  hand,  were,  stingily, 
quarrelling  with  every  expenditure  in  the  colony,  on  the 
other,  their  minds  were  filled  with  schemes  of  grandeur 
and  magnificence  in  the  government  they  were  attempt- 
ing to  settle  in  the  wilds  of  America.  "A  debt  of  several 
thousand  pounds  "  appalled  them,  even  though  it  was  to  be 
incurred  in  laying  out  and  settling  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  acres  in  seigniories,  baronies,  and  manors  for  Land- 
graves and  Caciques.  Instead  of  providing  the  means 
for  colonizing  their  immense  domain  even  in  part,  their 
time  was  spent  in  drawing  on  paper  grand  plans  of  im- 
aginary and  impossible  governments,  and  sending  them 
out  to  be  put  in  operation  among  a  few  hundred  advent- 
urers who  had  hardly  the  means  of  living.  Their  legis- 
lative activity  was  surely  extraordinary. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Locke's  original  draft  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  of  March,  1670,  had  been  modi- 
fied in  some  particulars,  and,  thus  modified,  had  been  sol- 
emnly adopted  on  the  20th  of  July,  1670.  To  these  latter, 
which  are  known  as  the  first  set,  and  which  had  been  de- 
claimed "  sacred  and  unalterable,"  the  colonists  had  been 
required  to  subscribe  and  swear  submission.  While  they 
had  never  been  adopted  by  a  Parliament  which  alone  could 
give  them  authority  under  the  charter,  they  had  thus 
been  forced  upon  the  people  individually.  With  a  deter- 
mination which  seems  purposed  merely  to  irritate  the  peo- 
ple, the  Proprietors,  well  aware  that  this  condition  of  the 
province  would  not,  at  least  yet,  admit  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  either  set,  now  sent  out  a  printed  copy  of  Locke's 

1  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  861 ; 
Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca..,  vol.  I,  212. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  167 

original  draft,  but  to  which,  it  is  said,  they  added  the 
clause  that  appears  as  Article  96,  in  the  set  to  be  found 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  Statutes  of  South  Carolina, 
directing  the  building  of  churches  and  the  public  main- 
tenance of  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  it 
declared  to  be  the  only  true  and  orthodox  religion. ^ 
The  Church  of  England,  as  we  have  before  explained, 
was  already  the  established  church  under  the  charter  ;  but, 
not  content  with  the  fact,  the  seven  Proprietors  who  were 
adherents  of  Episcopacy  —  Shaftesbury  having  no  predi- 
lection upon  the  subject  ^  —  now  required  a  declaration 
that  the  Church  of  England  was  the  only  true  and  ortho- 
dox religion.  Locke's  original  draft,  with  this  inconsistent 
provision  imposed  upon  it,  —  if  so  be  that  Locke  did  not 
draw  it  himself,  —  now  becoming  known  as  the  Second  Set, 
was  adopted  by  the  Proprietors  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1672 ;  they  do  not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  received 
by  the  Governor  in  Carolina  until  the  8th  of  February, 
1673-74.     The  Parliament  refused  to  recognize  them. 

That  the  Proprietors  were  well  aware  that  no  sub- 
stantial purpose  could  be  effected  by  this  attempt  to  force 
these  Constitutions  upon  the  colony  at  this  time  is  mani- 
fest, for  with  them  they  also  sent  two  other  remarkable 
legislative  productions.  These  were  termed  '•  Temporary 
Laws"  and  "Agrarian  Laws." 

"  Since  the  paucity  of  nobility,"  they  said,  "  will  not 
permit  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  presently  to  be  put 
in  practice,  it  is  necessary  for  the  supply  of  that  defect 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  117,  118;  Appendix,  420. 

2  Bishop  Burnet  says  of  Shaftesbury  :  "  He  was  to  religion  a  Deist  at 
best.  He  had  the  dotage  of  Astrology  about  him  to  a  high  degree.  He 
told  me  that  a  Dutch  doctor  had  from  the  stars  foretold  him  the  whole 
series  of  his  life.  But  that  which  was  before  him  when  he  told  me  this 
proved  false,  if  he  told  me  true.  For  he  said  he  was  yet  to  be  a  greater 
man  than  he  had  been."  —  History  of  his  Own  Times,  vol.  I,  96. 


168  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

that  some  temporary  laivs  should  in  the  meantime  be  made 
for  the  better  ordering  of  affairs  till  by  a  sufficient  number 
of  inhabitants  of  all  degrees  the  government  of  Carolina 
can  be  administered  according  to  the  form  established  in 
the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  we  the  Lords  Proprietors 
have  agreed  to  the  following." 

The  first,  second,  and  third  articles  of  these  Tempo- 
rary Laws  repeat  in  short  form  the  provisions  m  regard 
to  the  nomination  of  deputies  by  the  Palatines  and  other 
Proprietors ;  admit  the  nobility  as  members  of  the  Grand 
Council ;  appoint  the  chief  officers  in  the  province  with 
the  same  high-sounding  titles  ;  declare  the  powers  of  the 
Council,  the  quorum  of  which  should  be  the  Governor  and 
six  councillors,  whereof  three  at  least  shall  be  deputies  of 
Proprietors.  4.  In  case  of  the  death  or  departure,  of  a 
deputy,  his  place  should  be  supplied  by  the  eldest  of  the 
councillors  chosen  by  Parliament  until  another  deputy 
be  appointed.  5.  Parliament  to  consist  of  the  Governor, 
deputies,  nobility,  and  twenty  delegates  of  the  freeholders 
to  be  assembled  and  to  make  laws  agreeably  to  provisions 
of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions.  6.  All  acts  of  such 
Parliament  to  cease  at  the  end  of  the  first  Parliament 
convened  after  the  Constitution  should  be  put  in  force. 
7.  As  much  of  the  Constitutions  as  practicable  to  be  the 
rule  of  proceeding.  1 

The  Agrarian  Laws,  which  are  twenty-three  in  number, 
were  anything  but  such  as  would  be  inferred  from  their 
title.  They  were  concerned  entirely  with  the  interests  of 
the  Proprietors  and  nobility,  and  the  proportionate  division 
of  their  landed  estates.  The  distribution  of  the  people's 
share  is  alluded  to  only  incidentally.  The  preamble  sol- 
emnly announces  a  principle  most  inconsistent  with  the 
provisions  which  follow.  "Since  the  whole  foundation 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  119  ;  Appendix,  354. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  169 

of  the  government,"  it  declares,  "  is  settled  upon  right 
and  equal  distribution  of  land  and  the  orderly  taking  up 
of  it  of  great  moment  to  the  welfare  of  the  province,"  it 
goes  on  to  provide  that  one-fifth  of  all  shall  be  secured  to 
the  Proprietors,  one-fifth  to  the  nobility,  and  the  rest  to 
the  people.  1 

There  was  no  authority  for  such  "  Temporary  I^aws  " 
under  the  charter.  The  provisions  of  that  instrument 
allowed  for  such  only  upon  an  emergency,  when  an 
assembly  of  the  freeholders  could  not  be  convened.  It 
did  not  authorize  such  regulations  of  indefinite  con- 
tinuance without  the  assent  of  the  people.  The  Agrarian 
Laws  did  not  purport  to  be  of  merely  temporary  char- 
acter ;  on  the  contrary,  they  provided  for  the  permanent 
distribution  of  lands.  They  were  likewise  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  terms  of  the  charter,  and  so  were  not 
constitutionally  of  force. 

Hewatt  mentions  that  during  the  government  of  Sir  John 
Yeamans  a  civil  disturbance  broke  out  which  threatened 
the  ruin  of  the  settlement ;  that  it  had  been  fomented  by 
Culpepper,  with  the  connivance  of  O'Sullivan ;  and  that 
during  these  commotions  the  colonists  were  anticipating 
an  invasion  from  the  Spaniards  of  St.  Augustine.  It  is 
said  that  O'Sullivan,  who  had  been  put  in  charge  of  the 
cannon  on  the  island  which  now  bears  his  name,  in  order 
to  alarm  the  town  in  case  of  the  appearance  off  the  bar 
of  any  of  the  Spanish  vessels,  being  ready  to  perish  with 
hunger,  deserted  his  charge  and  took  part  with  Culpepper 
in  the  disturbance  at  Charles  Town,  where  he  was  arrested 
by  the  Marshal  for  sedition  and  required  to  give  security 
for  his  good  conduct. ^     Chalmers,  in  his  account  of  Cul- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  119;  Appendix,  355. 

2  Hewatt,  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  62;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  112,  note. 


170  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

pepper's  insurrection  in  North  Carolina  in  1677,  speaks  of 
him  as  one  who  had  in  1671  been  appointed  Surveyor 
General  of  Carolina,  and  who  had  raised  commotions  on 
the  Ashley  River. ^  We  can  find  no  contemporary  allusions 
to  such  events.  Braine,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Ashley,  Novem- 
ber, 1670,  accuses  O'Sullivan  of  rash  and  base  dealings  and 
abuse  of  the  Governor,  Council,  and  country ,2  but  this 
was  during  the  administration  of  West,  not  during  that 
of  Yeamans. 

The  apprehension  of  an  attack  by  the  Spaniards  at  this 
time  was  not,  however,  without  some  foundation.  The 
facilities  for  escape  of  servants  and  slaves  to  Florida, 
and  their  detention  and  protection  there  by  the  Span- 
iards, would  have  furnished  a  continual  cause  of  irrita- 
tion between  the  two  colonies  had  none  other  existed. 
The  first  purpose  of  slaves  deserting  their  masters  in 
Carolina  was  to  reach  St.  Augustine.  In  this  they  were 
sometimes  frustrated  by  Indians  sent  out  in  pursuit,  who 
overtook  and  captured  them.  Brian  Fitzpatrick,  described 
as  "a  noted  villain,"  who  had  before  been  punished  by 
the  Grand  Council,  now  deserted  to  the  Spaniards  and 
informed  them  of  the  distressed  condition  of  the  colony. 
An  attacking  party  was  immediately  dispatched  from  the 
Spanish  garrison  and  took  post  at  St.  Helena  Island. 
The  hostile  and  warlike  Indian  tribe  of  Westoes,  doubt- 
less under  the  same  influence,  also  began  to  exhibit  a 
troublesome  disposition  and  were  said  to  be  lurking  to 
the  southward  of  Charles  Town  with  hostile  purpose. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Grand  Council  on  July  2,  1672,  it 
was  promptly  resolved  to  dispatch  a  party  of  thirty  men 
against  the  Westoes,  and  on  the  9th  the  inhabitants  were 
organized    into    a    military    body.     John    Godfrey   was 

1  Chalmers,  Political  Annals,  Carroll's  Coll,  vol.  II,  304. 

2  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  329. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  171 

appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel ;  Thomas  Gray,  Major, 
Captains,  Maurice  Mathews,  John  Robinson,  Richard 
Conant,  the  seditious  Florence  O'SuUivan,  and  Robert 
Donne,  who  but  six  months  before  had  been  cashiered  for 
abetting  the  stealing  of  a  turkey.  Donne,  we  must  pre- 
sume, was  a  good  soldier,  notwithstanding  his  foraging 
habits.  On  the  approach  of  Colonel  Godfrey  with  fifty 
volunteers,  the  Spaniards  retreated  to  St.  Augustine,  and 
the  Westoes  were  unwilling  to  risk  an  engagement  while 
the  intervening  small  tribes  continued  friendly  to  the 
English.  1 

Sir  John  Yeamans  was  about  to  be  removed.  The 
necessities  of  the  people  at  the  close  of  his  administration 
were  of  so  pressing  a  nature,  it  is  said,  as  to  occasion 
great  disquietude,  but  these  were  relieved  by  the  seasonable 
arrival  of  the  Proprietor's  ship.  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
however,  observes  Rivers,  that  there  appears  never  to 
have  been  so  great  a  scarcity  of  food  as  to  endanger  the 
lives  of  the  people.  There  was  no  "starving  time"  in 
Carolina,  as  there  had  been  in  Virginia  during  its  first 
settlement.  There  were  failures  at  first  in  the  attempt  to 
raise  such  grains  and  fruits  as  were  not  best  adapted  to  the 
soil  and  climate  ;  but  fish  and  oysters,  an  abundance  of 
game  in  the  woods,  the  fertility  of  the  land  in  producing 
Indian  corn  and  peas,  were  sufficient  to  insure  the  settle- 
ment from  any  fear  of  starvation.  Even  in  the  times  of 
greatest  complaint  in  1673,  provisions  were  exported  to 
Barbadoes.  That  Governor  Yeamans  engaged  too  exten- 
sively in  these  exports  was  perhaps  the  chief  cause  of  the 
clamors  and  discontents  of  the  people.  To  these  was 
added  the  same  causes  of  dissatisfaction  that  had  existed 
at  Chowan  and  Cape  Fear.  The  Proprietors  in  their  parsi- 
mony were  unwilling  to  send  any  more  supplies.  They 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  112,  125  ;  Appendix,  382. 


172  HISTORY  OP   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

turned  again  to  West,  who,  if  less  ambitious  than  Sir  John, 
was  more  economical  in  his  administration.  But  West 
was  still  only  a  Cacique.  So,  on  May  18,  1674,  the  Pro- 
prietors send  a  patent  appointing  him  a  Landgrave  and 
a  commission  as  Governor,  and  declare  that  he  has  all 
along,  by  his  care  and  fidelity  and  prudence  in  the  man- 
agement of  their  affairs,  recommended  himself  to  them 
"as  the  fittest  man  for  their  trust."  They  had  made 
West  give  way  to  Yeamans ;  they  now  proceed  to  arraign 
Yeamans's  conduct  to  West.  They  cannot  forbear  plainly 
to  say,  they  wrote,  though  they  had  a  great  regard  for 
Sir  John  Yeamans,  that  when  Mr.  West  bore  the  man- 
agement of  their  affairs  they  had  had  some  encourage- 
ment to  send  supplies,  but  immediately  as  Sir  John  had 
assumed  the  government  the  face  of  things  had  been 
altered.  Their  first  reports  from  him  were  proposals 
for  increasing  their  Lordships'  charges,  and  in  his  la,st 
dispatches  he  had  sent  a  scheme  which  would  require 
disbursements  of  several  thousand  pounds.  He  had  in- 
sinuated that  their  Lordships  had  dealt  ill  with  the  colo- 
nists because  they  would  not  continue  to  feed  and  clothe 
them  without  promise  of  returns.  They  had  put  a  stop 
to  the  supplies,  for  they  thought  it  time  to  give  over  a 
charge  which  was  like  to  have  no  end  ;  that  the  country 
was  not  worth  having  at  that  rate.  It  must  be  a  bad  soil, 
indeed,  that  would  not  maintain  industrious  people.  They 
would  not  be  so  silly  as  to  maintain  the  idle.  But  it  was 
not  the  fault  of  the  soil.  Indeed,  some  of  the  Proprietors 
were  so  well  assured  of  this,  that  at  their  own  individual 
charges  they  were  going  to  settle  a  plantation  in  the 
Edisto  without  expecting  assistance  of  the  Proprietors 
generally.  They  were  well  satisfied  that  it  was  Sir  John 
Yeamans's  management  that  had  brought  things  to  this 
pass.     His  management  had  been  to  make  this  province 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  173 

subservient  to  Barbadoes.  They  referred  to  the  frequent 
mention  of  wanting  a  stock  of  cattle,  and  declared  the 
design  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  was  to  have  planters  in 
Carolina,  not  graziers.  If  their  intention  was  to  stock 
the  province,  their  Lordships  could  do  better  by  their 
own  bailiffs  and  servants,  who  would  be  more  obedient  to 
their  orders.^ 

Sir  John  had  previously  retired  to  Barbadoes  in  feeble 
health,  where  he  died  in  August,  1674,  possessed  of  con- 
siderable wealth,  but  having  lost  much  of  the  reputation 
which  he  enjoyed  when  he  entered  upon  -the  government 
of  the  colony.  Halsted,  in  a  letter  to  the  Proprietors, 
does  not  hesitate  to  charge  Sir  John  and  Captain  Gray 
with  complicity  in  the  death  of  an  Indian  killed  by  the 
"  noted  villain "  Fitzpatrick.^  Nor  was  this  the  first 
charge  of  the  kind  which  had  been  made  against  him. 
The  Assembly  at  Barbadoes  had  accused  him  to  Lord 
Willoughby,  the  Governor,  in  1667,  of  conspiring  against 
the  life  of  a  man  "for  noe  other  reason  but  that  he  had 
a  mind  to  the  other  gentlemans  wife."^  The  truth  is, 
that  the  glimpses  we  get  through  the  records  of  the  time, 
of  the  men  who  formed  the  first  settlers  of  the  colony  on 
the  Ashley,  do  not  inspire  us  with  great  regard  for  their 
characters  generally,  or  lead  us  to  believe  that  they  were 
others  than  such  as  might  have  been  expected  to  be  found 
in  such  an  enterprise.  They  were  adventurers  whom  one 
cause  or  another  —  domestic  or  political — had  induced 
to  seek  in  the  New  World  fortunes  they  could  not  achieve 
in  the  Old.  There  was  certainly  little  material  among 
them  for  the  "nobility"  of  Landgraves  and  Caciques  under 
the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  even  though  we  do  not 

1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  London,  1889,  1277. 

2  Ibid.,  664. 

*  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  177. 


174  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

accept  ArcMale's  description  of  them  as  "the  most  des- 
perate fortunes  "  who  first  "  ventured  over  to  break  the 
ice/'  "being  generally  the  ill  livers  of  the  pretended 
churchmen."  ^ 

1  A  Description  of  Carolina  (Archdale),  Carroll's  Coll.,  100. 


S^SE  LfB]^ 


OF   THE      ^P* 

UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER  VIII 


1674-82 


Governor  West's  previous  administration  had  been 
only  temporary  in  its  character,  under  appointment  by 
Governor  Sayle  upon  his  death-bed,  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  Council,  until  the  pleasure  of  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors could  be  known.  They  had  set  him  aside  and 
appointed  Sir  John  Yeamans,  because,  as  they  said,  of  Sir 
John's  being  a  Landgrave.  West  was  now  regularly 
commissioned  Governor  and  entered  upon  an  administra- 
tion which  was  to  last  for  eight  years,  during  which  the 
colony  was  to  be  settled  upon  a  firm  foundation,  and  by 
his  wise  and  prudent  conduct  to  enjoy  for  a  short  time 
the  peace  and  order  so  necessary  for  its  successful  growth 
and  prosperity. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  had  informed  West  in  the 
letter  which  announced  his  appointment  as  Governor, 
that  so  satisfied  were  some  of  the  Proprietors  with  the 
soil  and  advantages  of  the  country  that  they  intended 
to  settle  a  plantation  on  the  Edisto  at  their  own  indi- 
vidual cost.  This  they  now  proceeded  to  do,  and  to 
facilitate  them  in  their  new  enterprise,  the  Proprietors, 
as  a  body,  laid  out  for  these  individual  proprietors  a 
plantation  on  both  sides  of  the  Edisto,  or  Ashepoo,  River, 
of  which  they  granted  a  commission  as  Governor  to 
Andrew  Percival,  limiting  Governor  West's  jurisdiction 
to  five  miles  south  of  the  Ashley,  and  instructing  Gov- 

175 


176  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ernor  West  to  afford  all  countenance,  help,  and  assistance 
to  the  plantations  on  Locke  Island,  as  the  settlement  was 
to  be  called.  In  one  respect,  however,  they  did  not  make 
the  plantations  independent  of  that  on  the  Ashley.  They 
did  not  authorize  Governor  Percival  to  issue  warrants  for 
lands,  but  retained  this  power  in  Governor  West's  hands, 
instructing  him,  however,  to  affix  the  seal  to  all  such 
grants  as  Percival  should  send  to  him.  The  scheme, 
which  was  the  first  attempt  to  plant  an  outpost  between 
the  colonists  on  the  Ashley  and  unfriendly  Indians,  did  not 
succeed.  It  was  abandoned  and  Percival  was  appointed 
in  June,  1675,  Register  of  Berkeley  County  and  other  parts 
adjoining.  1  The  plan,  it  is  supposed,  originated  with  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,^  possibly  with  Locke,  in  honor  of 
whom  it  is  probable  the  new  government  was  named. 
This  attempt  presents  another  illustration  of  the  uncer- 
tainty and  impracticability  of  the  plans  of  the  Proprietors. 
The  scheme  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  was  ab- 
surdly out  of  proportion,  in  its  grandeur  and  elaborate- 
ness, even  for  a  single  government  in  a  new  country ; 
and  yet  here  were  their  Lordships  setting  up  another 
government  within  thirty  miles  of  that  on  the  Ashley, 
and  with  the  commission  to  Percival  sending  also  a  copy 
of  those  extraordinary  laws  for  his  guidance  and  di- 
rection. They  had  now  three  separate  governments  in 
the  province  of  Carolina,  for  which  Landgraves  and 
Caciques,  and  all  the  high  officers  required  by  the  Con- 
stitutions, were  to  be  provided.  There  was  the  govern- 
ment at  Albemarle,  that  at  Ashley,  and  now  this  attempt 
at  one  on  the  Edisto ;  and  between  that  at  Albemarle 
and  that  at  Ashley  had  been  the  attempt  at  Cape  Fear. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  121,  Appendix,  387,  388;  Public  Mecords 
of  So.  Ca.  (MSS.),  vol.  I. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  121. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  177 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  soon  after,  at  his  own  expense, 
engaged  Dr.  Henry  Woodward  to  enter  upon  the  explora- 
tion of  the  country  of  the  Westoes  and  Cussatoes.  The 
result  of  this  visit  was  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship 
between  these  nations  and  the  English  in  Carolina.  A 
comparison  of  the  strength  and  resources  of  these  Indians 
and  the  still  feeble  colonists  induced  the  Proprietors  (as 
they  said)  to  shield  the  latter  by  restricting  their  inter- 
course with  the  tribes  westward  of  Charles  Town  ;  but 
the  restraints  now  put  upon  the  Indian  trade  was  not, 
says  Rivers,  free  from  selfish  motives  on  the  part  of  the 
Proprietors.  They  knew  that  furs  and  deer-skins,  obtained 
in  traffic  for  trifling  articles,  formed  the  principal  source 
of  gain  to  the  industrious  traders,  among  whom  were  the 
chief  men  in  the  colony.  If  frauds  and  abuses  occurred, 
a  prevention  of  them  would  not  surely  follow  the  restrict- 
ing of  the  trade  to  Proprietary  agents.  In  April,  1677, 
Albemarle,  Shaftesbury,  Clarendon,  and  Colleton  agreed 
to  contribute  each  <£100  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
William  Saxby,  then  secretary  and  treasurer,  for  carrying 
on  the  Indian  trade,  allowing  one-fifth  of  the  clear  profit 
to  Dr.  Woodward,  according  to  a  previous  contract  be- 
tween him  and  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.  At  the  same 
time  they  issued  an  "Order  and  Command"  to  the  "gov- 
ernor council  and  other  inhabitants  of  our  province  of 
Carolina,"  forbidding  any  of  them,  under  pain  of  prosecu- 
tion and  severe  punishment,  to  trade  during  seven  years 
with  these  or  other  Indians  living  beyond  Port  Royal,  but 
leaving  open  to  the  settlers  the  trade  for  a  considerable 
distance  on  the  sea-coast,  "and  any  other  way  not  less 
than  one  hundred  miles  from  their  plantation  which  is 
all  they  can  pretend  or  expect  from  us,"  continue  their 
Lordships,  "it  being  in  justice  and  reason  fit  that  we 
should  not  be  interrupted   by  them   in   our  treaties  and 


178  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

transactions  with  these  nations  that  inhabit  these  distant 
countries  with  whom  by  our  grant  and  charter  from  his 
Majesty  we  only  have  authority  to  treat  or  to  inter- 
meddle." ^ 

Again  we  observe  the  utter  disregard  by  the  Pro- 
prietors even  of  their  own  favorite  and  "unalterable" 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  when  the  provisions  even  of 
those  laws  interfered  in  the  least  with  their  interests  or 
views  of  the  moment.  By  the  terms  of  the  Constitutions 
they  had'committed  to  the  Grand  Council  the  power  "to 
make  peace  and  war,  leagues  and  treaties  with  any  of  the 
neighboring  Indians."  Under  this  authority  the  Council 
had  acted ;  they  had  declared  war,  made  peace,  and  entered 
into  treaties.  It  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that,  situated 
^as  the  colonists  were,  with  their  families  exposed  to  the 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife,  they  would  leave  the  im- 
portant matter  of  their  relations  with  the  savages  to  be 
governed  by  the  diplomacy  of  any  set  of  men  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.^  It  is  needless  to  add  that 
they  disregarded  the  instructions  and  took  care  of  them- 
selves. 

To  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  is  ascribed  the  credit  of 
a  more  sensible  measure;  a  measure  which,  if  adopted, 
might  have  allayed,  at  least  to  some  degree,  the  hostility 
of  the  irritable  and  warlike  natives,  and  have  secured  at 
less  cost  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  settlers.  The  Pro- 
prietors claimed  to  be  the  sole  owners  of  every  acre  of 
Carolina  under  King's  grants,  and  they  had  expected  the 
colonies  to  be  established  by  driving  the  Indians  away 
from  the  lands  over  which  they  and  their  ancestors  had 
roamed  from  time  immemorial.  They  were  to  be  dealt 
with  as  savages  deserved  if  they  resisted  the  rights  con- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  122,  123. 

2  Ihid.,  123. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  179 

f erred  by  his  Majesty  King  Charles  II  of  England ;  and 
it  had  been  forbidden  to  purchase  land  from  them. 
Shaftesbury  now  proposed  —  and  in  this  we  can  scarcely 
doubt  the  influence  of  Locke  —  to  revoke  this  order. 
This  was,  of  course,  little  better  than  resorting  to  fraud 
rather  than  to  force.  The  so-called  purchases  were  made 
for  no  adequate  consideration  from  the  Proprietors  to  the 
Indians.  A  few  glittering  trinkets  and  bright-colored 
ribbons  and  cloths,  of  little  value,  was  the  coin  in  which 
the  Proprietors  paid  for  the  most  valuable  of  all  property, 
—  land.  There  is,  however,  this  to  be  said  on  the  other 
side  of  the  question;  i.e.  that  the  Indians  themselves 
were  selling  what  they  did  not  own.  They  were  selling 
and  conveying  land  tenures,  the  nature  of  which  they  had 
no  conception,  and  hence  to  which  they  had  no  rights. 
The  chief  value  of  the  deeds  which  the  Indians  signed  was 
really  as  a  "  color  of  title  "  against  other  Europeans. 

The  first  deed  of  transfer  on  record  was  made  in  March, 
1675,  to  Andrew  Percival  for  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 
and  the  rest  of  the  Lords  Proprietors,  "  for  and  in  con- 
sideration of  a  valuable  piece  of  cloth,  hatchets,  beads  and 
other  goods  and  manufactures."  The  territory  ceded 
was  that  of  "  Greater  and  Lesser  Casor  lying  on  the 
River  Kyewaw,  the  River  Stono,  and  the  fresher  of  the 
River  Edisto."  Perhaps  to  strengthen  the  deed  of  con- 
veyance, the  signatures  were  taken  of  an  odd  assembly  of 
Indians,  there  being  the  marks  and  seals  of  four  Caciques, 
the  marks  of  eleven  war-captains  and  fourteen  "woman 
captains."  In  1682  and  subsequently,  lands  were  ceded 
by  the  Caciques  of  Wimbee,  Stono,  Combahee,  Kussah, 
Edisto,  Ashepoo,  Witcheaw,  and  by  the  Queen  and  Captain 
of  St.  Helena,  who  generously  surrendered  (to  please  the 
English)  their  lands  in  a  northwestward  direction  as  far 
as  the  '* Appalachian  Mountains,"  although  they  had  not 


180  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

even  the  claim  of  occupancy  to  any  great  distance  from 
the  sea-coast.  All  the  northwest  portion  of  the  province 
was  possessed  by  the  populous  and  powerful  Cherokees.^ 

The  first  accession  to  the  number  of  original  settlers,  as 
we  have  seen,  came  from  Barbadoes.  Immigrants  con- 
tinued to  arrive  in  small  parties  from  England  in  the 
Proprietors'  ship  the  Blessing,  from  the  West  Indies  in 
the  Carolina,  and  in  Captain  Halsted's  ship,  in  their 
respective  voyages.  Then  had  come  the  Dutch  colony 
from  JVova  Belgia  or  New  York.  To  induce  immigration, 
the  Proprietors  had,  in  1672,  offered  liberal  concessions 
to  freemen  and  servants  from  Ireland,  particularly  if  they 
would  come  in  sufficient  numbers  to  make  up  a  commu- 
nity and  form  a  town  by  themselves  "  wherein  they  may 
have  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  according  to  their 
own  discipline."  In  June,  1676,  a  whole  colony  of  12,000 
acres  was  promised  to  Mr.  John  Berkly,  Simon  Perkins, 
Anthony  Laine,  and  John  Pettitt,  upon  their  landing  in 
Carolina.'^  In  March,  1679,  Rene  Petit,  his  Majesty's 
agent  at  Rouen,  Jacob  Grinard  of  Normandy,  Gentleman, 
and  Sir  Thomas  Dolmans  petitioned  the  King  for  the 
transportation  of  several  French  Protestant  families  to 
Carolina.  Their  petition  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
of  Trade  and  Plantations^  in  the  Council  at  Whitehall, 
who  recommended  to  his  Majesty  to  give  orders  for  the 
fitting  out  of  two  ships  (neither  of  which  may  draw 
twelve  feet  of  water)  as  may  be  fit  to  transport  the  said 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  123-125. 

2  Ibid.  (Rivers),  120,  121. 

8  The  Committee  of  Trade  and  Plantations  was  one  appointed  by  the 
Privy  Council  of  Great  Britain,  to  whom  was  referred  all  matters  relating 
to  the  American  colonies,  and  who  had  a  general  jurisdiction  and  super- 
vision over  them.  They  were  also  called  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  of 
Trade  and  Plantations.  See  Government  of  the  Colony  of  So.  Ca.  (Whit- 
ney); Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies^  13th  Series,  1-11. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  181 

families,  provided  that  the  said  families  should  give  a  list- 
of  their  names  with  sufficient  assurance  that  they  would 
take  sufficient  victuals  and  provisions  for  themselves  for 
the  voyage,  and  that  the  said  families  should  come  from 
abroad  or  had  arrived  in  England  for  the  purpose  and 
design  of  going  to  Carolina.  Several  such  families 
availed  themselves  of  this  offer,  and  on  the  17th  of  De- 
cember the  Lords  Proprietors  write  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  in  Carolina  recommending  them  to  their  care,  as, 
being  skilled  in  the  manufacture  of  certain  commodities, 
they  might  instruct  the  English  settlers.  They  directed 
a  grant  to  Rene  Petit  and  Jacob  Grinard  of  4000  acres 
of  land  each.^  One  of  these  vessels  was  the  frigate 
Richmond^  which  arrived  in  1680,  bringing  out  fortj^-five 
French  refugees.  A  more  considerable  number  soon 
followed  in  the  other  vessel.  In  the  redistribution  of  the 
lots  in  old  Charles  Town,  Richard  Batin,  Jacques  Jours, 
and  Richard  Deyos  received  town  lots.  These  are 
assumed  to  have  been  French  Protestants,  but  upon  what 
authority  is  not  known.  In  1677  grants  were  made  to 
Jean  Balton  ;  in  1678  to  Jean  Bazant  and  Richard  Gail- 
lard. ^  These  were  the  first  Huguenots  in  Carolina  of 
whom  there  is  record.  It  was  expected  that  the  French 
colonists  would  be  very  serviceable  to  the  province  by 
introducing  the  manufacture  of  silk  and  the  culture  of 
the  olive  and  the  vine.  This  expectation  was  not 
realized.  The  eggs  of  the  silkworm  hatched  at  sea  and 
the  worms  perished  for  want  of  food  ;  nor  did  the  other 
branches  of  industry  sought  to  be  promoted  by  them 
succeed.^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.   Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  392  ;  Coll  Hist.  Soc. 
of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  102  ;  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  242. 

2  Howe's  Hist.  Presbyterian  Church,  73. 

8  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  173,  174  ;  Howe's  Hist.  Presby- 
terian Church,  73. 


182  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

In  the  list  of  emigrants  from  Barbadoes  in  the  year 
1679  we  find  the  names  of  Robert  Daniel,  Thomas  Dray- 
ton, John  Ladson,  and  Arthur  Middleton^  —  names  which 
have  since  been  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  State. 

The  Proprietors  wished  to  build  their  chief  town  on 
some  high  land  on  the  Ashley  or  Cooper,  if  such  could  be 
found  free  from  the  sickliness  of  the  coast  and  the  sudden 
inroads  of  an  enemy's  ship.  But  the  explorations  of 
Captain  Halsted  and  the  search  of  the  committee  of 
the  Grand  Council  failed  to  find  a  more  eligible  situation 
than  Oyster  Point,  to  which  the  settlers  began  generally 
to  move  in  1679.  Some  had  fixed  their  abode  there  as 
early  as  1672.  Such  representations  were  made  to  the 
Lords  Proprietors  as  caused  them  to  write  to  Governor 
West  and  the  Council  on  the  17th  of  December,  1679:  "  We 
are  informed  that  this  Oyster  Point  is  not  only  a  more 
convenient  place  to  build  a  town  on  than  that  formerly 
pitched  on  by  the  first  settlers,  but  that  the  people's  inclina- 
tions turn  thither ;  we  let  you  know  that  Oyster  Point  is 
the  place  we  do  appoint  for  the  port  town  of  which  you 
are  to  take  notice  and  call  it  Charles  Town."  ^  It  was 
ordered  at  the  same  time  that  the  public  offices  should 
be  moved  thither  and  the  Grand  Council  summoned  to 
meet  there.  In  the  spring  of  1680  the  removal  was  made, 
and  during  the  same  year  thirty  houses  were  erected.  It 
was  called  for  a  while  by  some  persons  New  Charles  Town, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  old  town,  which  now  began  to  be 
abandoned ;  from  1682  it  was  known  for  a  period  of  one 
hundred  years  simply  as  Charles  Town  ^  or  Charlestown. 

The  Biehm.ond,  his  Majesty's  ship  which  brought  out 

1  List  of  Emigrants  to  America,  1600-1700  (Hottin). 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  128,  129;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So. 
Ca.y  vol.  I,  102,  103. 

^  Ibid.  See  note  of  Rivers  giving  reason  for  fixing  the  time  of  the 
removal  as  of  the  spring  of  1680. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNxMENT  183 

the  French  Protestants  under  Petit  and  Grinard,  was  also 
charged  with  particular  instructions  to  inquire  into  the 

state  of  the  country,  and  T A ,  Gentleman,^  a  clerk 

on  board  of  that  vessel  upon  its  return  in  1682,  published 
a  description  of  the  province  and  of  its  natural  excel- 
lences. "  The  town,"  he  says,  "  is  regularly  laid  out  into 
large  and  capacious  streets,  which  to  buildings  is  a  great 
ornament  and  beauty.  In  it  they  have  reserved  con- 
venient places  for  a  church.  Town  House  and  other  pub- 
lic structures,  an  artillery  ground  for  the  exercise  of  their 
militia,  and  wharves  for  the  convenience  of  their  trade 
and  shipping.  "2  Xhe  site  reserved  for  a  church  is  that 
at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Meeting  streets,  where  stood 
the  original  St.  Philip's  Church,  and  now  stands  St. 
Michael's.  So  this  spot,  set  apart  at  the  very  inception 
of  the  province,  has  remained  until  this  day  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  God,  and  separated  from  all  unhallowed 
worldly  and  common  uses.  The  first  church  was  soon 
built.  It  was  black  cypress  upon  a  brick  foundation,  and 
was  described  as  large  and  stately,  surrounded  by  a  neat 
palisade.  It  was  usually  called  the  English  Church,  but 
its  distinctive  name  was  St.  Philip's. ^  It  was  probably 
begun  during  the  last  of  the  administration  of  Governor 
West,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  piety  as  well  as  for 
his  justice  and  moderation.  The  Proprietors,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  been  repeatedly  urged  by  the  colonists  to  send 
out  a  clergyman,  and  they  had  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Bond 
a  grant  of  land  and  a  stipend  if  he  would  come.  He  had 
not  done  so,  but  there  was  a  minister  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  Charles  Town  at  this  time.  The  Rev. 
Atkin  Williamson  was  here  certainly  in  1781,  probably 
in  1680,  but  it  is  not  known  at  what  time  previously  he 

1  T A ,  supposed  to  be  Thomas  Ash.     Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  I. 

Preface.  2  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  82.  ^  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  26. 


184  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

came  into  the  province.^  As  early  as  1671  Governor  West 
had  endeavored  to  restrain  the  licentiousness  naturally 
arising  among  a  new  people  living  without  the  public 
ordinances  of  religion. ^  In  May,  1682,  acts  were  passed 
for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  for  the  sup- 
pression of  idleness,  drunkenness,  and  profanity.  Besides 
these  efforts  for  promoting  the  morality  of  the  people, 
the  close  of  Governor  West's  second  administration  was 
marked  by  the  wisdom  of  laws  enacted  for  the  organization 
of  the  militia  of  the  province,  and  for  making  high  roads 
from  the  new  town  at  Oyster  Point  through  the  forests 
that  stretched  into  the  interior.^ 

Samuel  Wilson,  secretary  of  the  Proprietors,  also  pub- 
lished an  account  of  Carolina  about  the  same  time  (1682). 
He  states  that  since  the  order  of  the  Proprietors  appoint- 
ing Oyster  Point  as  the  new  town,  about  a  hundred  houses 
had  been  built,  and  more  were  building  daily  by  the  per- 
sons of  all  sorts  that  come  there  to  inhabit  from  the  more 
northern  English  colonies,  the  Sugar  Islands,  England,  and 
Ireland.  That  many  industrious  servants  who  had  served 
out  their  terms  with  their  masters,  at  whose  charge  they 
were  transported,  had  gotten  good  stocks  of  cattle  and 
servants  of  their  own,  had  built  houses  and  exercised 
their  trades.  That  many  that  went  out  as  servants 
were  then  worth  several  hundred  pounds  and  lived  in  a 
very  plentiful  condition,  and  their  estates  increasing; 
tha't   land  near  the  town  was  sold  for  twenty  shillings 

1  Bishop  Perry,  in  his  Hist,  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  vol.  I, 
372,  quotes  a  letter  of  Commissary  Johnson,  written  in  1710,  in  which  he 
states  that  Mr.  Williamson  had  been  in  the  province  twenty-nine  years, 
which  would  imply  his  arrival  in  1681.  But  in  a  deed  of  Originall  Jackson 
and  Meliscent  his  wife  giving  a  tract  of  land  for  another  church,  dated 
January  14,  1680-81,  Mr.  Williamson  is  mentioned  as  then  in  the  colony. 
The  inference  is  that  he  had  arrived  at  least  as  early  as  some  time  in  1680. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  130.  »  Ibid. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  185 

(i.e,  about  i25  of  present  currency)  per  acre,  though 
pillaged  of  all  its  valuable  timber  ;  cleared  land  fitted  for 
planting  and  fenced  was  let  for  ten  shillings  per  annum 
the  acre,  though  twenty  miles  distant  from  the  town. 
Six  men  could  in  six  weeks'  time  fell,  clear,  fence  in,  and 
fit  for  planting  six  acres  of  land.  He  states  that  at  this 
town  in  November,  1680,  there  rode  at  one  time  sixteen 
sail  of  vessels,  some  of  which  were  upwards  of  200  tons 
and  came  from  divers  parts  of  the  King's  kingdom  to 
trade  there,  which  great  concourse  of  shipping  would  un- 
doubtedly in  a  short  time  make  it  a  considerable  town.^ 

Wilson  was  the  secretary  for  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
and  so  his  account  may  be  regarded  somewhat  as  an 
advertisement  colored  to  induce  immigration,  but  the 
clerk  on  the  Richmond  gave  an  equally  pleasing  account 
of  the  progress  of  the  colony.  "  At  our  being  there,"  he 
writes,  "there  was  judged  in  the  country  a  1000  or  1200 
souls,  but  the  great  number  of  families  from  England,  Ire- 
land, Barbadoes  Jamaica  and  the  Caribbee  Islands  which 
daily  transport  themselves  thither,  have  more  than  doubled 
that  number."  2 

These  accounts  agree  as  to  the  healthiness  of  the  coun- 
try. Wilson  states  that  the  inhabitants  of  Carolina  are 
no  more  liable  to  agues  than  those  of  England  ;  that  those 
in  England  who  seat  themselves  near  great  marshes  are 
subject  to  such  attacks  and  do  suffer  as  those  who  do  like- 
wise in  Carolina  ;  that  elsewhere  the  country  is  exceed- 
ingly healthy  ;  and  cites  an  instance  of  a  family  consisting 
of  never  less  than  twelve  persons,  in  which  there  had  been 
no  deaths  since  their  arrival  in  nine  years.  Nor,  he  adds, 
is  there  one  of  the  masters  of  families  that  went  over  in 
the  first  vessel  dead  of  sickness  in  Carolina  except  one, 
who  was  seventy  and  five  years  of  age  before  he  came 
1  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  23,  24.  a  /jfej.,  82. 


186  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

there.  1     T A asserts  that  the  Indians  prolong 

their  days  to  the  extremity  of  old  age,  and  that  the  Eng- 
lish hitherto  have  found  no  distempers,  either  epidemical 
or  mortal,  but  such  as  have  their  rise  from  excess  or  in- 
temperance. He  admits  that  in  July  and  August  they 
have  sometimes  touches  of  agues  and  fevers,  but  not  vio- 
lent, of  short  duration,  and  never  fatal.  English  children 
born  there  are  commonly  strong  and  lusty,  of  sound  con- 
stitutions, and  fresh,  ruddy  complexions. ^  The  whole  set- 
tlement at  this  time  was  upon  the  rivers  and  the  coast, 
extending  no  farther  than  thirty  miles  from  the  town  — 
the  region  which  has  since  been  affected  with  the  deadly, 
high,  bilious,  congestive  fever.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that 
the  country  fever,  since  prevalent  in  the  summer  in  the 
low  country,  was  not  then  known. 

Wilson  describes  the  summer  as  not  so  hot  as  in  Vir- 
ginia and  the  more  northern  colonies,  which  he  attributes 
to  the  sea-breezes  which  almost  constantly  arise  about 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  within  the  tropics  and  blow  from 
the  east  until  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  to  a  north 
wind  which  arises  a  little  after,  blowing  all  night,  keeping 
it  fresh  and  cool.  Thomas  Ash  only  commits  himself  to 
the  fact  that  the  summers  are  not  so  torrid,  hot,  and  burn- 
ing as  that  of  their  southern,  nor  the  winters  so  sharp 
and  cold  as  that  of  their  northern,  neighborhood. 

The  soil  was  found  to  be  generally  very  fertile.  There 
were  some  sandy  tracts,  but  even  this  land  produced  good 
corn.  Wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  and  peas  thrive  exceed- 
ingly, and  the  ground  yields  in  greater  abundance  than  in 
England  ;  but  the  chief  produce  of  the  field  was  Indian 
corn,  of  which  there  were  two  plentiful  harvests.  Whole- 
some bread  and  good  biscuits  were  made  of  this,  and  it 

1  Carroirs  Coll.,  vol.  I,  20.  This  allusion  is  no  doubt  to  Governor 
Saye,  who  was,  in  fact,  eighty  years  of  age.  ^  Ibid.,  62. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  187 

was  dressed  with  milk  in  various  ways,  furnishing  a 
strong,  sound,  and  nourishing  diet.  Of  the  juice  of  the 
corn  when  green,  the  Spaniards,  with  chocolate  aromatized 
with  spices,  made  a  rare  drink  of  excellent  delicacy.  The 
English  among  the  Caribbees  roasted  the  green  ear  on  the 
coals,  and  ate  it  with  great  pleasure. 

The  Indians  in  Carolina,  when  on  a  journey,  parch  the 
ripe  corn,  then  pound  it  into  a  powder,  and  put  it  in  a 
leather  bag.  To  use  it,  they  take  a  little  quantity  of  the 
powder  in  the  palms  of  their  hands,  and  mixing  it  with 
water,  sup  it  up.  With  this  they  will  travel  several  days. 
It  was  described,  in  short,  as  a  grain  of  general  use  to  man 
and  beast.  The  Carolinian  had  already  found  a  way  of 
making  with  it  good,  sound  beer,  but  rather  strong  and 
heady,  and  by  maceration,  when  duly  fermented,  a  strong 
spirit-like  brandy.  Tobacco  was  found  to  grow  very  well, 
but  the  great  trouble  in  the  planting  and  cure  of  it, 
and  the  great  quantities  which  Virginia  and  other  of  his 
Majesty's  plantations  produced,  did  not  encourage  its 
planting.  Tar  of  the  resinous  juice  of  the  pine  was  made 
in  great  quantities  ;  several  tons  were  transported  yearly 
to  Barbadoes,  Jamaica,  and  the  Caribbee  Islands.  Indigo 
had  been  tried  with  success,  but  had  been  abandoned,  for 
what  reason  it  could  not  be  learned. 

The  great  increase  in  cattle,  it  was  said,  was  more  to 
be  admired  than  believed.  In  1674  the  Proprietors  had 
refused  to  send  out  any  live-stock,  and  the  country  was 
destitute  of  cows,  hogs,  or  sheep.  In  seven  years  after, 
there  were  many  thousands  in  the  province.  Individual 
planters  had  already  700  or  800  head.  They  were  not 
subject  to  any  disease,  and  the  little  winter  did  not  pinch 
them  so  as  to  be  perceived.  The  planters  were  thus  saved 
the  care  of  providing  fodder  for  them  in  the  winter.  Caro- 
lina would  thus  be  able  to  supply  the  northern  colonies 


188  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

with  salted  beef  cheaper  than  .they  themselves  could  raise ; 
for,  considering  that  all  the  woods  in  Carolina  offered  good 
pasturage,  and  the  small  rent  that  was  paid  the  Proprie- 
tors for  land,  an  ox  was  raised  at  almost  as  little  expense 
in  Carolina  as  a  hen  is  in  England.  So,  too,  hogs  increased 
abundantly,  and  in  a  manner  without  any  charge  or 
trouble  to  the  planter.  Ewes  also  did  well,  but  required 
a  shepherd  to  drive  them  to  feed,  and  to  bring  them  home 
at  night  to  preserve  them  from  wolves.  The  colonists  had 
begun  to  breed  horses,  which  bred  well.  The  colts  were 
finer  limbed  and  headed  than  their  dams  or  sires,  which 
gave  great  hopes  of  an  excellent  breed.  Negroes  throve 
by  reason  of  the  mildness  of  the  winter  much  better  than 
they  did  in  the  more  northern  colonies,  and  required  less 
clothes,  which  was  a  great  charge  saved. 

Living  was  very  cheap  in  the  colony.  Indian  corn  sup- 
plied the  bread  ;  the  rivers  abounded  with  every  kind  of 
fish,  near  the  sea  with  very  good  oysters,  and  the  woods 
with  hares,  squirrels,  raccoons,  opossums,  and  deer.  An 
Indian  hunter  would  kill  nine  fallow  deer  in  a  day.  All 
the  considerable  planters  had  an  Indian  hunter,  who  sup- 
plied them  with  game.  For  20  shillings  a  year,  i.e.  from 
f  20  to  f 25,  one  hunter  would  find  a  family  of  thirty  per- 
sons with  as  much  venison  and  game  as  they  could  well 
eat.     Deer  were  in  such  infinite  herds   that   the  whole 

country  seemed  but  one  continued  park.     T A 

states,  upon  the  authority  of  Captain  Mathews,  that  one 
hunting  Indian  had  yearly  killed  and  brought  to  his  plan- 
tation more  than  100,  sometimes  200,  head  of  deer.  Bears 
were  in  great  numbers.  From  the  fat  of  these,  the  Indians 
made  oil  which  was  of  great  value  in  making  the  hair  to 
grow.  The  Indians  had  a  way  of  dressing  the  skins  of 
wild  animals  rather  softer,  though  not  so  durable,  as  that 
used  in  England. 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  189 

The  settlers  in  Carolina  were  thriving  not,  as  yet,  so. 
much  as  planters  as  traders.  Their  trade  was  princi- 
pally with  Barbadoes  and  the  other  West  Indies.  They 
exported  to  England  skins  and  furs,  and  Indian  pelfry 
and  cedar ;  to  Barbadoes,  Jamaica,  and  the  Caribbee 
Islands  provisions,  pitch,  tar,  and  clapboards,  for  which 
they  obtained  in  exchange  sugar,  rum,  molasses,  and  gin- 
ger. Their  trade  was,  unhappily,  not  restricted  to  these 
legitimate  articles  of  commerce.  In  the  Temporary 
Laws  sent  out  to  Sayle  it  was  expressly  provided  that 
no  Indian,  upon  any  occasion  or  pretence  whatsoever, 
was  to  be  made  a  slave  or  without  his  own  consent  be 
carried  out  of  the  country;  ^  but  this  humane  provision  was 
disregarded  by  the  Proprietors  themselves,  and  disobeyed 
by  the  colonists.  It  was  the  Proprietors  who  first  "  gave 
the  privilege,"  to  use  their  own  language,  of  selling 
Indian  captives  from  Carolina  to  the  West  India  Islands 
as  the  cheapest  means  of  "  encouraging  the  soldiers  "  of 
the  infant  colony .^  However  shocking  this  may  appear 
to  the  sentiment  of  the  present  age,  in  judging  the  con- 
duct of  the  Proprietors,  we  must  recollect  that  by  the 
rules  of  war,  at  that  time,  prisoners  and  captives  were 
regarded  as  the  absolute  property  of  the  conquerors,  who 
might  take  their  lives  or  sell  them  into  bondage,  —  a  rule 
which  was  cited  and  relied  upon  as  international  law  a 
hundred  years  afterwards  by  the  British  authorities  in 
Carolina  as  their  justification  of  the  treatment  of  Ameri- 
cans taken  as  prisoners  of  war.^  The  title  of  the  Pro- 
prietors rested  upon  the  claims  of  England  to  a  conquest 
of  this  territory,*  and  hence  the  slavery  and  exportation 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  353.  2  /^i^^.^  132. 

3  Boyal  Gazette  (No.  103),  February  20, 1782,  Charlestown,  South  Carolina. 

*  So  says  Blackstone.  See  ante,  p.  51.  But  from  whom  conquered,  — 
from  the  Spaniards  or  the  Indians  ?  If  from  the  Indians,  as  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  ask,  why  did  the  Proprietors  attempt  to  secure  title  by 
purchase  from  them  ? 


190  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

of  Indians  was  a  matter  merely  of  expediency,  and  not  of 
moral  wrong  under  the  political  tenets  of  the  age.  And 
so  it  was  that  now  Governor  West  was  to  be  removed 
because  of  the  displeasure  of  the  Proprietors  at  the  sell- 
ing of  Indian  slaves  purchased  by  the  planters  from  the 
neighboring  Indian  tribes.  This  trade  the  Proprietors 
regarded  as  one  of  the  perquisites  of  their  grant  and  were 
very  jealous  of  any  interference  with  it  by  the  colonists. 
Indian  slaves  were  shipped  and  sold  to  the  West  Indies, 
and  African  slaves  were  bought  there  and  brought  in 
return  to  Carolina. 

Wilson,  for  the  Proprietors,  offered  to  those  who  would 
go  out  to  the  province,  —  to  each  master  or  mistress  of  a 
family,  50  acres ;  to  every  able  son  or  man-servant  they 
should  carry  50  acres  more,  and  the  like  to  each  marriage- 
able daughter  or  woman-servant ;  and  for  each  child,  man 
or  woman  servant  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  40  acres ; 
to  each  servant  when  his  time  of  service  was  out,  50  acres. 
This  land  was  to  be  to  them  and  their  heirs  forever,  with 
the  reservation  of  a  penny  an  acre  quit-rent  to  the  Lords 
Proprietors.  To  those  who  preferred  not  to  be  encum- 
bered with  paying  a  rent,  and  also  to  secure  to  themselves 
tracts  of  land  without  being  forced  to  bring  servants  to 
put  upon  them,  the  Proprietors  offered  to  sell  at  the  rate 
of  <£50  per  1000  acres,  reserving  a  peppercorn  per  annum 
rent  when  demanded.  This  was  certainly  not  very  cheap 
if  we  assume  that  the  pound  at  that  time  was  equal  in 
value  to  four  at  the  present ;  for  the  price  of  those  wild 
lands  would  have  been  equal  to  about  one  dollar  an  acre 
of  the  present  currency,  a  price  at  which  large  tracts  of 
the  same  can  be  purchased  to-day. 


CHAPTER  IX 

1682-85 

The  immigration  to  Carolina  had  hitherto  been  that 
simply  of  adventurers  uninfluenced  by  any  religious  or 
political  motives.  Governor  Sayle,  it  is  true,  was  a  Puri- 
tan, but  it  was  not  on  that  account  that  he  had  been  made 
Governor ;  it  was  rather  because  of  his  availability  to  Yea- 
mans  when  he  determined  not  to  come  himself.  So,  too, 
West  was  a  man  of  piety,  but  not  on  that  account  had 
he  been  appointed,  but  only  because  that  he  was  "  the 
fittest  man  for  the  trust  "  the  Proprietors  could  find  when  . 
Sir  John  again  failed  them.  The  breaking  out  of  the 
Popish  Terror  in  England  in  1678,  and  the  religious  ex- 
citement which  ensued,  in  view  of  the  succession  of 
James  to  the  throne  in  case  of  his  brother's  death,  in 
which  commotion  Shaftesbury,  one  of  the  Proprietors,  was 
much  involved,  now  caused  an  emigration  from  England 
to  Carolina  of  a  class  generally  superior  in  character  and 
morals  to  any  that  had  yet  come,  excepting  only  the  Bar- 
badian planters  and  the  French  Protestants  who  had  come 
out  with  Grinard  and  Petit. 

The  Proprietors,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1682,  announced 
that  they  had  been  prevailed  upon  at  the  request  of  sev- 
eral eminent  persons  who  had  a  mind  to  become  settlers  in 
the  province  to  review  their  Fundamental  Constitutions 
and  to  make  some  additions  and  alterations  thereto.  The 
first  two  of  these  changes  related  only  to  the  matter  of 

191  .  • 


192  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

precedence  between  themselves,  and  were  of  no  concern 
to  the  colonists.  The  third  was  the  very  small  concession 
that  the  Grand  Council  "  W^  is  the  Senate  of  Carolina," 
they  said,  were  allowed  to  propose  to  the  Parliament  such 
things  as  they  might  upon  mature  consideration  think  fit- 
ting for  the  good  of  the  people,  without  first  submitting 
the  same  to  the  negative  of  the  Palatine  Court  in  Eng- 
land. The  fourth  then  went  a  small  step  further  and 
provided  that  in  case  the  Grand  Council  should  forget 
their  duty,  and  not  take  sufficient  care  to  remedy  in- 
conveniences by  proposing  fitting  laws  to  be  passed  by 
Parliament,  the  grand  jury  of  the  county  might  present 
anything  necessary  to  be  passed  into  law ;  and  if  the 
Grand  Council  did  not  then  in  convenient  time  propose  it 
to  the  Parliament,  that  it  might  be  acted  upon  without 
their  consent.  The  only  other  considerable  alteration  was 
that  made  in  compliance  with  the  desire  of  several  eminent 
wealthy  men,  who  proposed  to  become  settlers  in  Carolina, 
and  of  some  who  were  already  there,  who  were  unwilling 
to  be  encumbered  with  the  payment  of  rent  for  their  lands; 
for  these  the  Proprietors  agreed  that  rent  might  be  re- 
mitted by  special  instruments  under  their  hands  and  seals. 
^  These  modifications  were  made  to  meet  the  views  of  in- 
fluential nonconformists,  who  were  turning  their  eyes  to 
the  new  country,  in  apprehension  of  persecution  at  home. 
In  a  letter  accompanying  these  modifications  their  Lord- 
ships disavowed  power  thereafter  to  alter  anything  in  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  without  the  people's  consent, 
but  at  the  same  time  ordered  that  no  person  should  be 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Council  or  have  land  allotted 
before  he  subscribed  submission  to  these  laws  in  their 
amended  form.  The  colonists,  remembering  the  oaths  that 
had  been  extorted  from  them  to  the  fii"st  set,  and  still  deny- 
ing the  right  of  the  Proprietors  under  the  charter  to  make 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  193 

any  law  without  the  assent  and  approbation  of  the  people 
assembled  for  this  purpose,  declined  again  to  recognize 
these  Constitutions  even  in  their  modified  form.  It  was 
just  as  well  that  they  did  so,  for  a  short  time  after  —  and 
that  before  it  could  have  been  known  in  England  that 
they  had  refused  to  accept  the  Constitutions  of  May,  1682  — 
there  came  out  still  another  set  bearing  date  the  seventeenth 
day  of  August,  to  which  the  Council  and  the  people  were 
again  solemnly  required  to  subscribe.  No  other  reasons  for 
the  sudden  alteration  were  given  than  that  it  was  done  at 
the  request  of  certain  Scots  and  other  considerable  persons. 
This  last  set  was  likewise  rejected  by  the  colonists.^ 

An  order  contemporaneous  with  the  modifications  of  the 
Constitutions  of  the  10th  of  May,  1682,  divided  the  province 
into  three  counties.  Berkeley,  embracing  Charles  Town, 
extended  from  Sewee  on  the  north  to  Stono  Creek  on  the 
south  ;  beyond  to  the  northward  was  Craven  County,  and  to 
the  southward  Colleton  County,  all  extending  within  land 
to  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles  from  the  sea-coast.  A 
County  court  was  ordered  to  be  established  at  Charles 
Town  for  all  the  inhabitants.  Craven  County  was  sparsely 
settled  until  the  Huguenots  occupied  the  banks  of  the  San- 
tee,  so  that  practically  there  were  but  two  counties  at  this 
period.2 

Oldmixon,  the  author  of  the  work  entitled  The  British 
Empire  in  America^  writes :  — 

"  'Twas  about  this  time  that  the  Persecution  rais'd  by  the  Popish 
Faction  and  their  adherents  ^in  England  against  the  Protestant 
Dissenters  was  at  the  height ;  and  no  Part  of  the  Kingdom  suffer'd 
more  by  it  than  Somersetshire.  The  Author  of  this  History  liv'd 
at  that  time  with  Mr.  Blake,  brother  of  the  famous  General  by  that 
name,  being  educated  by  his  Son-in-law,  who  taught  School  in 
liridgewater ;    and   remembers    'tho'    then  very   young,    the   reasons 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  421. 

2  Ibid.,  134-135. 
o 


194  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

old  Mr.  Blake  us'd  to  give  us  for  leaving  England.  One  of  which  was, 
that  the  miseries  they  endur'd,  meaning  the  Dissenters,  then  were 
nothing  to  what  he  foresaw  would  attend  the  Reign  of  a  Popish  suc- 
cessor ;  wherefore  he  resolved  to  remove  to  Carolina.  And  he  had  so 
great  an  interest  among  Persons  of  his  principles  (I  mean  Dissenters) 
that  many  honest  substantial  Persons  engaged  to  go  over  with  him."  ^ 

Benjamin  Blake,^  Daniel  Axtell,  and  Joseph  Morton,^ 
who  afterwards  married  Blake's  daughter,  were  the 
leaders  of  this  movement.  Several  other  families  fol- 
lowed the  fortunes  of  Blake ;  and  through  the  encour- 
agement of  Axtell  and  Morton,  five  hundred  persons 
arrived  in  Carolina  in  less  than  a  month,  so  that,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  population  of  the  colony  was  doubled  during 
the  period  from  1680  to  1682.  In  reward  for  this  great 
service,  Morton  and  Axtell,  with  Thomas  Colleton,  who 
had  been  the  Proprietors'  agent  in  Barbadoes,  and  who 
had  also  contributed  much  to  the  increase  of  the  colony, 
were  made  Landgraves  in  1681 ;  and  Governor  West  was 
now  required  to  give  place  to  Joseph  Morton,  who  was 
commissioned  Governor  on  the  18th  of  May,  1682.*  To  find 
an  excuse  for  his  removal,  the  ever-ready  and  convenient 
charge  was  made  against  West,  —  that  of  dealing  in 
Indian  slaves,  and  opposing  the  Proprietors'  policy  ia 
the  colony.  /  The  real  reason  was  doubtless  to  encourage  I 
immigration  from  this  new  and  important  source.        ^ ' 

^  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  460;  Oldmlxon,  Carolina,  Carroll's 
Coll,  vol.  II,  407. 

2  Benjamin  Blake  was  a  brother  of  the  famous  English  Admiral  of 
the  Commonwealth.     The  family  were  of  Bridgewater  in  Somersetshire. 

3  The  Mortons  were  an  ancient  English  family.  Prominent  among  the 
members  of  it  who  came  to  America,  besides  Joseph  Morton,  were 
Thomas  Morton,  one  of  the  iiiost  interesting  liistorical  characters  of  early 
New  England;  Rev.  Charles  Morton,  Vice  President  of  Harvard  and 
author  of  a  number  of  treatises ;  George  Morton,  the  ancestor  of  Vice 
President  Levi  P.  Morton.     Morton  Memoranda  (Leach),  1894. 

4  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  100. 


TJNDEtl   tHE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  195 

A  still  more  important  movement  was  inaugurated 
about  the  same  time,  which  was  destined,  however,  to 
end  disastrously.  On  the  21st  of  November,  1682,  the 
Lords  Proprietors  inform  Governor  Morton  that  they  had 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  Sir  John  Cockram  of 
Ochiltree  and  Sir  George  Campbell,  in  behalf  of  them- 
selves and  other  Scots,  for  the  settlement  of  a  county  in 
Carolina.  This  new  colony  was  conducted  to  Carolina 
by  Henry  Lord  Cardross.  His  Lordship  was  descended 
from  the  Lords  Erskine  and  the  Earls  of  Mar,  and  Lady 
Cardross  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  James  Stuart.  Lord 
Cardross  had  been  in  many  ways  a  suiferer  for  resistance 
to  oppression,  and  determined  to  seek  freedom  of  con- 
science in  America.  Nor  was  he  alone  in  this.  A  com- 
pany of  noblemen  entered  into  bonds  with  each  other  for 
making  a  settlement  in  the  province.  The  subscribers 
were  thirty-six  in  number.  Among  them  were  some  who 
bore  the  names  of  Callender,  Cardross,  Tester,  Hume 
of  Polwart,  Cockburn,  Douglass,  Lockhart,  Oilman,  etc. 
They  had  obtained  from  the  Proprietors  the  grant  of 
a  county  consisting  of  thirty  plats  of  12,000  acres  each 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Port  Royal,  the  title  for  which 
the  Proprietors  undertook  to  secure  by  treaty  and  pur- 
chase from  the  Indians ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  Proprie- 
tors authorized  Governor  Morton  and  Maurice  Mathews 
to  receive  and  take  possession  of  all  lands  sold  by  the 
Indians.  The  Scots  selected  Port  Royal  on  account  of 
the  fame  of  its  harbor  and  the  excellence  of  its  situation, 
which  had  been  so  greatly  extolled;  and  doubtless  sup- 
posing that  as  the  titles  to  the  lands  were  to  be  obtained 
by  purchase  from  the  Indians,  no  danger  was  to  be  ap- 
prehended from  that  source.  Unfortunately,  they  did  not 
take  into  consideration  the  proximity  of  the  location  to 
the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine. 


196  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

This  colony  was  to  be  independent  of  that  at  Charles 
Town,  and  Cardross  understood  himself  to  have  coordinate 
jurisdiction  with  the  Governor  there.  He  landed  in  1683, 
and  founded  Stuart's  Town,  probably  so  called  in  honor  of 
the  family  of  Lady  Cardross.  Rivers  states  that  Lord 
Cardross  was  accompanied  by  about  ten  families,  among 
whose  names  were  those  of  Hamilton,  Montgomerie,  and 
Dunlop;  but  Howe  quotes  Wodrow,  a  most  exact  histo- 
rian, to  the  effect  that  there  were  many  others.^  It  had, 
indeed,  been  expected  that  some  10,000  emigrants  would 
have  been  obtained  from  Scotland  to  this  colony,  for  the 
persecution  consequent  upon  the  rising  in  the  West 
country  was  then  raging  fearfully ;  and,  while  many  were 
fleeing  before  it  in  anticipation,  many  others  were  invol- 
untarily banished  and  sent  to  America,  condemned  to 
servitude. 

As  an  instance  of  the  cruelty  with  which  these  un- 
fortunate people  were  treated,  and  illustrating  the  gen- 
eral insecurity  of  life  and  liberty,  of  the  times.  Dr. 
Howe  relates  the  following  incidents :  A  considerable 
number  of  Scotch  rebels  were  sentenced  to  transpor- 
tation in  a  ship  belonging  to  William  Gibson,  a  merchant 
in  Glasgow,  and  commanded  by  his  brother,  Captain 
James  Gibson.  On  the  voyage  these  poor  people  were 
disturbed  when  at  worship,  and  the  hatches  closed 
upon  them  whenever  they  began  to  sing.  They  were 
stinted  in  their  food,  and  water  was  unnecessarily  denied 
them.  One  is  supposed  to  have  died  from  thirst.  The 
sick  were  not  cared  for.  One  of  the  voluntary  exiles, 
failing  to  pay  all  of  his  passage-money,  was  forced  into 
the  country  as  a  servant.  Two,  attempting  to  escape, 
were  barbarously  used,  beaten  eight  times  a  day,  and,  it 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  142  ;  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  80;  Wodrow's  Hist, 
of  the  Sufferings  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  197 

is  said,  condemned  to  perpetual  servitude,  but  to  whom 
and  in  what  way  is  not  stated.  Captain  Gibson  did  not 
restrict  himself  to  the  prisoners  delivered  to  him.  He 
seized  one  Elizabeth  Lining,  who  had  gone  aboard  the 
vessel  when  lying  in  the  Clyde,  to  visit  the  prisoners,  and 
brought  her  off  in  captivity.  She  was  set  at  liberty  as  a 
free  woman  by  the  Grand  Council  at  Charles  Town,  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1684,  upon  her  petition ;  but  we 
are  not  told  that  she  was  restored  to  her  native  land. 
Most  of  these  prisoners  died  in  Carolina. 

Governor  Morton's  administration  was  but  of  short  du- 
ration. He  was  a  man  of  a  sober  and  religious  temper  of 
mind,  with  some  share  of  wisdom ;  and  from  his  family 
alliance  it  was  hoped  that  the  hands  of  the  government 
would  be  strengthened  ;  but  his  instructions  from  England 
were  so  opposed  to  the  views  and  interests  of  the  people 
as  greatly  to  hamper  him  in  the  execution  of  the  duties  of 
his  office.  His  Council  was  composed  of  John  Boone, 
Maurice  Mathews,  John  Godfrey,  Andrew  Percival,  Arthur 
Middleton,  and  James  Moore.  Some  of  these  differed 
widely  from  him  in  opinion  with  respect  to  public  meas- 
ures, and  claimed  greater  indulgences  for  the  people  than 
he  had  authority  to  grant.  This  strengthened  the  differ- 
ences between  the  two  parties  already  forming  in  the 
colony,  —  one  in  support  of  the  prerogative  and  authority 
of  the  Proprietors,  the  other  in  defence  of  the  liberties  of 
the  people  ;  the  one  party  relying  upon  the  Fundamental 
Constitutions  and  the  Governor's  instructions,  and  the 
other  resting  their  rights  under  the  Royal  charter.  A 
singular  illustration  of  the  potent  influence  of  individual 
interest  over  political  theories  and  principles  was  here  pre- 
sented. We  find  West,  a  dissenter,  and  Morton,  who  had 
just  left  his  own  country  for  religious  freedom  and  politi- 
cal liberty,  Roundhead   commoners,  both   accepting   the 


198  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

bauble  title  of  Landgrave,  and  upholding  the  arbitrary 
prerogative  of  the  Proprietors,  while  the  churchmen  from 
England  and  Barbadoes  were,  for  the  present,  insisting  upon 
the  chartered  rights  of  the  people  under  the  Royal  grants. 

The  election  for  the  twenty  members  of  Parliament  had 
hitherto  been  held  at  Charles  Town,  the  centre  of  the 
small  population,  but  now  that  the  people  were  increasing, 
and  in  a  measure  spreading  themselves,  and  that  the  new 
counties  had  been  laid  out,  the  Proprietors,  doubtless  in- 
fluenced by  Morton  and  his  party,  who  had  settled  on 
the  Edisto,  directed  that  Berkeley  and  Colleton  counties 
should  be  equally  represented  by  the  election  from  each 
of  ten  members ;  and  that  the  two  elections  should  be  held 
on  the  same  day,  respectively,  at  Charles  Town  and  at 
London  (afterwards  called  Wilton)  in  Colleton.  It  is 
not  known  whether  Governor  Morton  had  received  these 
instructions  at  the  time  he  convened  a  Parliament  in 
September,  1683.  On  the  3d  of  that  month  the  Proprie- 
tors wrote  to  him  reiterating  their  instructions,  and  add- 
ing that,  as  they  were  uncertain  that  their  orders  had 
arrived  in  time,  they  directed  that  if  the  Parliament  had 
been  chosen  by  election  only  in  Charles  Town,  that  it  be 
dissolved  and  a  new  Parliament  called,  to  be  chosen  as 
then  directed. 

There  is  a  passage  in  this  letter  which  indicates  that 
the  voting  in  Carolina  even  before  this  early  day  had 
been  by  ballot.     The  Proprietors  wrote :  — 

"  We  are  informed  that  there  are  many  undue  practices  in  the  choice 
of  members  of  parliament,  and  that  men  are  admitted  to  bring  papers  for 
others,  and  to  put  in  their  votes  for  them  which  is  utterly  illegal  and  con- 
trary to  the  custom  of  parliament,  and  will  in  time,  if  suffered,  be 
very  mischievous.  You  are  therefore  to  take  care  that  such  practices 
be  not  suffered  for  the  future;  but  every  man  must  deliver  his  own  vote 
and  no  man  be  suffered  to  bring  the  vote  of  another,"  etc.^ 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  135;  Appendix,  407. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  199 

It  is  certain  that  voting  ''by  ballot  or  scrutiny"  was 
expressly  directed  by  their  Lordships'  instructions  of  Sep- 
tember 10,  1685.1 

It  was  certainly  a  great  advance  for  the  convenience 
of  the  people  to  have  elections  held  in  two  places  instead 
of  one.  But  it  was  a  most  arbitrary  and  unjust  provision 
that  the  new  Colleton  County,  with  its  sparse  population, 
settled  but  recently  by  the  new-comers  from  England 
under  Blake,  Morton,  and  Axtell,  should  have  equal  rep- 
resentation with  Berkeley,  in  which  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  people  were  established.  Such  a  deviation  could 
be  regarded  only  as  a  design  to  govern  the  old  settlei-s  by 
the  new.     It  was  also  another  violation  of  the  principle 

u  1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  115. 

The  recklessness  of  assertion  by  writers  in  regard  to  Southern  history 
is  strikingly  exhibited  in  a  recent  work  entitled,  The  Puritan  in  Holland, 
England,  and  America  (1892).  The  author  having  traced  to  his  satis- 
faction the  origin  of  the  use  of  the  ballot  in  the  North  to  the  organization 
of  Salem  Church  in  1629,  in  which  it  was  adopted,  as  he  holds,  from  Hol- 
land, proceeds  boldly  to  assert :  — 

"  Here  then  we  see  the  written  ballot  introduced  into  the  early 
colonies  where  the  Netherland  influence  can  be  directly  traced  and  into 
them  alone.  Like  the  free  school  and  the  township  it  was  unknown 
South  of  Pennsylvania,  as  it  was  in  the  mother  country.  How  it  finally 
worked  into  the  first  constitutions  of  a  majority  of  the  original  thirteen 
States,  and  how  it  has  thence  spread  over  the  whole  Union,  Virginia 
and  Kentucky  bringing  up  the  rear  in  1864  and  1891,  has  already  been 
shown."— Vol.  II,  438-440. 

There  never  has  been  an  election  in  South  Carolina  except  by  ballot, 
as  far  as  is  known.  In  Great  Britain  the  ballot  was  suggested  for  use  in 
Parliament  by  a  political  tract  of  the  time  of  Charles  II,  It  was  actually 
used  by  the  Scots  Parliament  in  1662.  These  were  the  sources  from 
which  it  was  taken  in  this  colony.  Locke,  who  prescribed  it  in  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  for  elections  in  the  Parliament  and  Grand 
Council,  was  doubtless  much  more  familiar  with  these  precedents  and 
those  of  ancient  Rome  than  with  the  action  of  the  Salem  congregation. 
It  will  appear  later  on  that  the  assertion  in  regard  to  free  schools,  so 
far  as  South  Carolina  is  concerned,  is  as  untrue  as  that  in  regard  to  the 
ballot. 


200  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

for  which  the  colonists  were  contending,  i.e.  that  under 
the  charter  no  law  could  be  passed  without  their  assent. 
If  the  Proprietors  could  alter  the  election  precincts  at 
will,  and  designate  the  apportionment  of  members  of  Par- 
liament in  the  precincts,  there  was  an  end  of  all  influence 
and  control  of  the  people  in  the  government.  Whether 
the  instructions  had  arrived  before  the  election  of  the  Par- 
liament called  by  Morton  or  not,  they  were  disregarded, 
and  the  elections  had  been  held  at  Charles  Town  as 
usual.  * 

Governor  Morton  dissolved  the  Parliament  upon  the 
receipt  of  the  letter  of  the  30th  of  September  peremptorily 
ordering  him  so  to  do, — but  not  before  numerous  acts  had 
been  passed  by  it.  The  Proprietors  were  as  much  offended 
by  the  character  of  the  laws  passed  by  this  body  as  by  the 
election  in  violation  of  their  orders.  They  now  viewed 
with  abhorrence  the  adoption  of  a  law  for  protecting  the 
colonists  against  prosecution  for  debts  contracted  out  of 
the  colony  as  impeding  the  course  of  justice,  as  against 
the  King's  honor,  and  repugnant  to  the  law  of  England, 
forgetting  that  in  their  anxiety  to  encourage  immigration 
they  had  sanctioned  a  similar  law  in  1670.  They  ordered 
"that  all  officers  should  be  displaced  who  had  promoted 
it."  The  Governor  and  Council  were  further  blamed  for 
slighting  their  instructions  concerning  the  election.  The 
Proprietors  claimed  to  have  power  by  their  charter  to  call 
assemblies  of  the  freeholders;  that  their  Fundamental 
Constitutions  appointed  how  this  should  be  done,  and  that 
their  orders  stood  in  the  place  of  the  Constitutions  until 
they  could  be  put  in  force.  But  this  haughty  strain, 
observes  Rivers,  did  not  quell  the  spirit  of  opposition, 
and  their  Lordships  further  showed  how  little  they  un- 
derstood those  under  their  government,  when,  vexed  at 
their  failure,  they  wrote  to  Governor  Morton  in  the  follow- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  201 

ing  March,  "  Are  you  to  govern  the  people,  or  the  people 
you?"i 

Unfortunately  for  the  plans  of  the  Proprietors,  con- 
tinues the  same  author,  their  Governors  and  deputies  were, 
for  the  most  part,  necessarily  selected  from  the  colonists 
themselves,  whose  dispositions  and  principles  they  could 
not  be  sure  were  in  accordance  with  their  own.  Did  they 
instruct  Morton  to  remove  all  officers  who  sold  or  encour- 
aged the  selling  of  Indian  slaves  ?  The  Governor  himself 
was  not  free  from  blame.  Their  own  deputies  fell  under 
the  blow  as  well  as  the  commoners  of  the  Grand  Council ; 
and  these  the  people  thought  fit  to  elect  again.  Did  they 
inveigh  against  any  indulgence  to  the  English  pirates  who 
visited  the  coast  ?  The  people  were  not  disposed  to  hang 
them  while  their  monarch  encouraged,  with  unusual  honors, 
the  chief  captain  of  the  band.  Did  the  Proprietors  demand 
their  quit-rents  in  money  ?  The  people  said  there  was  no 
mint  in  Carolina  and  coin  was  scarce.  Did  they  refer  to 
the  powers  granted  by  the  charter?  The  people  were 
willing  to  be  governed  by  the  charter  which  made  their 
concurrence  necessary  for  the  adoption  of  any  plan  of 
government.^ 

The  Proprietors,  thus  foiled  by  their  own  agents,  thought 
that  possibly  a  Governor  from  abroad  would  be  more  sub- 
servient to  their  interests,  so  Morton  was  removed  and 
Sir  Richard  Kyrle  of  Ireland  was  appointed  in  his  place 
in  April,  1681..  To  fit  him  for  the  position,  Kyrle  was,  of 
course,  appointed  a  Landgrave.  The  Proprietors  expressed 
to  him  their  hope  that  from  his  abilities  and  activity  the 
affairs  of  Carolina  would  be  in  a  better  condition  than 
before ;  they  pointed  out  the  evils  they  wished  him  to 
remedy,  cautioned  him  against  the  Spaniards,  and  advised 
him  to  put  the  province  in  a  state  of  defence.     But  Sir 

1  Hist,  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  135,  137.  2  jj^ia.^  137,  138. 


202  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Richard  did  not  live  to  carry  out  his  instructions.     He 
died  within  six  months  after  his  arrival  in  the  country.^ 

Upon  the  death  of  Kyrle,  the  Council,  who  under  the 
instructions  were  charged  in  such  event  to  choose  a  person 
to  act  until  the  Proprietors'  pleasure  should  be  known, 
again  turned  to  West  and  chose  him  as  Governor ;  but  it 
happened  that  he  was  not  at  that  time  in  the  province. 
In  their  instructions  to  Kyrle  the  Proprietors  had  recom- 
mended that  in  case  of  his  absence  he  should  commission 
Robert  Quarry,  the  Secretary  of  the  province,  as  Governor 
of  Charles  Town ;  acting  upon  this  intimation  of  their 
Lordships'  opinion  of  Quarry,  in  the  absence  of  West  the 
Council  chose  him  as  Governor.  But  it  was,  indeed,  diffi- 
cult to  please  their  Lordships.  They  disapproved  the 
selection.  Forgetting,  apparently,  that  they  had  denied 
Yeamans's  right  to  be  Governor  because  he  was  a  Land- 
grave, they  now  wrote  to  the  Council  that  they  should 
have  chosen  Landgrave  Morton,  whom  they,  the  Pro- 
prietors, had  just  removed  to  make  way  for  Kyrle,  "to 
whom,"  they  said,  in  the  absence  of  Landgrave  West,  "  by 
virtue  of  our  Fundamental  constitutions  and  instructions 
the  government  of  right  belonged," — a  rule  we  shall  soon 
see  them  disregarding  when  it  conflicted  with  their  pur- 
poses. Beyond  the  expression  of  their  disapproval,  the 
Proprietors  did  not,  however,  interfere.  Colonel  Quarry 
was  a  man  of  character,  and  subsequently  occupied  other 
high  positions  in  colonial  affairs.  He  succeeded  Edward 
Randolph  as  Surveyor  General  of  his  Majesty's  customs  in 
America,  was  Vice  Admiral  of  Carolina  ^  in  1700,  and  after- 
wards became  Judge  of  Admiralty  of  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania. His  short  ad  interim  administration  was  not  a 
fortunate  one  —  responsible  as  it  was,  in  part,  for  the  ill- 

1  Hewatt,  vol.  I,  92  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  138. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  265. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  203 

treatment  of  the  unhappy  Scotch  colony  under  Lord 
Cardross.  But  the  justice  of  the  accusation  for  complicity 
with  the  pirates,  for  which  it  has  been  most  known  in 
history,  is  at  least  not  free  from  doubt. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1684,  an  armed  vessel  came 
into  the  Ashley,  which  pretended  to  have  been  trading 
with  Spaniards,  and  Quarry  reported  to  the  Proprietors 
that  he  had  prohibited  the  landing  or  selling  of  any  of  its 
goods,  as  he  had  received  information  that  it  was  a  pirati- 
cal vessel.  This  statement,  it  was  afterwards  charged  to 
the  Proprietors,  was  false ;  that  in  fact,  although  Quarry 
knew  the  vessel  to  be  piratical,  he  had  allowed  the  plun- 
dered goods  to  be  landed  and  sold.  Quarry  had  in  the 
meanwhile  displeased  the  Proprietors  in  other  matters, 
particularly  by  his  treatment  of  Lord  Cardross.  On  the 
15th  of  February,  1685-86,  they  ordered  an  inquiry  as  to 
his  conduct,  declaring  that  the  truth  of  the  charge  must 
be  proved  or  Quarry's  reputation  vindicated.^  Two  months 
after,  April  26,  complaining  of  his  conduct  to  Lord  Car- 
dross, they  threatened  that  he  should  be  suspended  from 
his  office  as  Secretary  if  he  persisted  in  his  "refractioness."^ 
Six  years  later.  May  13, 1691,  they  allude  to  "  Mr.  Quarry 
who  had  been  dismissed  by  them  from  the  Secretaryship 
for  harboring  pirates  and  other  misdemeanors."^  Whether 
his  complicity  with  the  pirates,  or  "  other  misdemeanors " 
which  he  persisted  in,  was  the  real  cause  of  his  removal 
from  the  office  of  Secretary  may  be  doubted  in  view  of  his 
subsequent  career.  However  this  may  be,  we  find  him 
in  1697  apparently  in  full  favor  again  with  their  Lord- 
ships.^ It  is  scarcely  credible  that  he  would  have  been 
chosen  to  the  high  position  he  afterwards  occupied,  both 
in  regard  to  the  King's  revenue  and  as  Judge  of  Admi- 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  116. 
^     ^Ibid.      ^  Ibid.,  127.        *  Ibid.,  US, 


204  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ralty,  had  not  his  character  been  fully  vindicated  from  the 
charges  of  harboring  pirates,  and  of  a  false  report  to  cover 
up  his  conduct. 

The  Proprietors  at  this  time  were,  no  doubt,  sensitive 
upon  this  subject.  Sir  Thomas  Lynch,  the  Governor  of 
Jamaica,  had  shortly  before  complained  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  Plantations  in  England  of  the  great  damage 
that  arose  to  his  Majesty's  service,  by  the  harboring  and 
encouraging  of  pirates  in  Carolina  and  other  governments 
and  proprietaries,  where  there  was  no  law  to  restrain  them.^ 
Jamaica  itself,  it  may  be  observed,  had  just  been  required 
by  the  Royal  Government  to  adopt  and  enforce  an  act  sent 
out  from  England  for  the  suppression  of  this  evil  in  her 
own  waters.^  Lynch's  complaint  did  not  apply  to  Carolina 
alone,  though  it  was  the  only  province  he  mentioned  by 
name  ;  nor  does  he  mention  the  colony  at  Charles  Town. 
His  complaints  are  general,  and  may  probably  have  been 
grounded  upon  the  visits  of  pirates  to  Cape  Fear,  which 
was  their  favorite  resort. 

When  the  English  colonists  under  their  charter  settled 
Carolina,  pirates  had  been  for  many  years  occupying  the 
coast  at  their  pleasure.  Indented  as  it  was  by  numerous 
harbors  and  inlets,  it  afforded  them  a  safe  refuge  when  pur- 
sued by  their  enemies,  and  most  available  places  for  refit- 
ting and  repairing  after  a  cruise.  Here  they  could  bring 
their  prizes;  and  if  ancient  tradition  be  true,  here  they 
buried  their  treasures.  The  coast  country  was  a  wilder- 
ness, inhabited  only  by  scattered  tribes  of  Indians;  and 
once  within  the  headlands  of  the  spacious  harbor,  they 
were  protected  from  interference  and  could  plot  their 
nefarious  schemes  at  their  leisure.^ 

'   1  Colonial  Records  of  N'o.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  347. 
V  '-2  Bryan  Edwards's  Hist.  WeM  Indies,  vol.  I,  292. 
y     8  The  Carolina  Pirate  (liughuson);    Johns  Hopkins   Univ.  Studies, 
12th  Series,  V,  VI,  VII,  12. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  205 

Charles  II  had,  upon  his  restoration,  openly  encouraged 
these  public  robbers,  who,  sometimes  under  the  designation 
of  privateers,  had  devastated  and  plundered  the  Spanish 
dominions.  The  business  was  esteemed  just  and  laudable 
as  long  as  it  suited  the  Royal  interest,  and  was  treated  as 
an  honorable  mode  of  warfare.  From  mere  whim  his 
Majesty  had  knighted  Henry  Morgan,  a  Welshman  who 
had  plundered  Porto  Bello  and  Panama.  He  not  only 
knighted  this  buccaneer,  but  had  made  him  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  the  present  Governor  of 
which  was  now  complaining  of  pirates.  This  body  of 
plunderers  was  so  formidable,  indeed,  as  to  strike  terror 
into  every  quarter  of  the  Spanish  dominion.  When  peace 
was  declared  between  England  and  Spain,  many  of  these 
so-called  privateers  naturally  developed  into  avowed 
pirates,  and  cared  no  more  for  England  than  Spain.  But 
at  first  there  was  doubtless  a^  ground  of  legitimate  sym- 
pathy between  the  colonists  in  Carolina  and  these  wild 
rovers.  Hitherto  their  warfare  —  conducted  under  genu- 
ine or  pretended  commissions  as  privateers  —  had  been 
principally,  if  not  altogether,  against  the  commerce  and 
colonies  of  Spain.  The  Spaniards  in  Florida,  though  their 
government  in  Europe  was  actually  in  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  disregarded  its  obligations,  and  pur- 
sued the  colonists  of  Carolina  as  their  enemies.  Were  the 
feeble  colonists  in  Carolina,  having  the  Spaniards  and 
Indians  already  to  contend  with,  to  incur  the  enmity  and 
invite  the  hostility  of  these  buccaneers  that  the  European 
powers  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  suppress  ?  Were  the 
Carolina  colonists  to  be  pillaged  by  the  Spaniards  at  St. 
Augustine,  and  on  their  part  to  regard  and  treat  these 
people,  whether  privateers  or  pirates,  as  enemies  because 
they  in  turn  preyed  upon  the  Spaniards  ? 

But  however  natural,  and  in  some  sort  legitimate,  was 


206  HISTORY   O^   SOUTH   CAROLt^TA 

the  sympathy  of  the  Carolina  colonists  with  the  enemies  of 
the  Spaniards  —  whoever  they  might  be;  however  unjust 
it  was  to  expect  the  weak  colonists  on  the  Ashley  to  enter 
into  conflict  with  them,  —  there  does  not  appear  after  all 
that  there  was  any  sufficient  ground  for  the  charge  that  the 
Carolinians  were,  in  fact,  aiding  and  abetting  the  pirates. 
Nor  did  the  Proprietors  quietly  submit  under  the  charge 
that  their  colony  was  to  be  blamed  in  the  matter.  Craven, 
the  Palatine,  met  the  accusation  promptly  and  with  spirit. 
On  the  27th  of  May,  1684,  he  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
that  upon  inquiry  he  had  been  informed  that  one  Jacob 
Hall  did  touch  at  Carolina  for  wood  and  water  as  he 
came  from  Vera  Cruz,  but  belonged  not  to  Carolina,  nor 
was  any  inhabitant  of  the  province  with  him.  He  had 
stayed  but  a  few  days  and  then  sailed  for  Virginia.  Hall, 
continued  the  Earl,  acted  under  Van  Horn,  who  had  a 
commission  from  the  French,  and  his  Majesty's  pleasure 
not  to  suffer  his  subjects  to  take  commissions  from  foreign 
princes  not  being  known  in  Carolina  was  the  reason,  he 
conceived,  why  the  privateer  had  not  been  secured.  The 
Earl  went  on  to  say  that  he  could  not  hear  but  of  one  more 
that  ever  was  in  Carolina,  and  that  that  one,  not  pretend- 
ing any  commission  from  any  foreign  prince,  and  having 
taken  some  vessels,  was  indicted,  found  guilty,  and  exe- 
cuted. The  captain,  with  two  other  of  the  most  guilty  of 
the  company,  had  been  hung  in  chains  at  the  entrance  of 
the  port,  and  their  bones  hung  there  to  that  day,  an  ex- 
ample to  others.  Furthermore,  Lord  Craven  plainly  in- 
timated that  Sir  Thomas  Lynch,  who  was  now  so  virtuously 
calling  attention  to  the  harboring  of  pirates  by  others,  was 
not  himself  free  from  implication  with  their  business. 
Nevertheless,  Lord  Craven  informs  the  Board  of  Trade 
that  the  Proprietors  had  sent  directions  to  Carolina  to  pass 
an  act  like  that  of  Jamaica  for  the  suppression  of  the  evil.^ 
V     1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.<,  vol.  I,  348. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  207 

On  the  11th  of  March,  1684-85,  the  Proprietors  again 
issued  a  commission  to  Joseph  West  as  Governor,  but  it 
was  not  until  September  of  that  year  that  he  resumed  the 
office  he  had  resigned  to  Morton  two  years  before.^  In 
the  meanwhile  the  difficulties  of  political  affairs  had 
greatly  increased.  The  apportionment  of  the  members  of 
Parliament  was  still  warmly  opposed  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Berkeley  County,  whose  able  leaders  were  displaced 
from  the  Council  upon  the  same  pretexts  that  West  had 
been,  two  years  before,  removed  from  the  governorship; 
viz.  upon  the  charge  of  sending  away  Indian  slaves. 
Another  difficult  question  with  which  Governor  West  had 
now  to  contend  was  that  in  regard  to  the  tenure  of  land. 
In  the  first  Fundamental  Constitutions  and  in  the  Agra- 
rian Laws  the  Proprietors  had  declared  that  lands  should 
be  held  for  the  rent  of  a  penny  an  acre,  "or  the  value 
thereof,"  upon  which  terms  and  inducements  many  persons 
had  emigrated  to  Carolina.  But  now  it  was  declared  that 
lands  should  be  held  only  by  indentures,  in  which  the 
words  "  or  the  value  thereof  "  were  to  be  stricken  out  and 
a  reservation  added  of  reentry  on  failure  of  paying  the 
quit-rent  in  money.  To  the  opposition  excited  against 
this  clear  violation  of  the  contract  upon  which  the  colo- 
nists had  come  out,  and  the  reasonable  request  that,  as 
money  was  scarce,  the  rents  might  be  paid  in  merchantable 
produce  of  the  land,  the  Proprietors  only  replied,  "We 
insist  to  sell  our  lands  our  own  way."  Then  their  Lord- 
ships recurred  again  to  the  old  subject  of  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions.  On  the  12th  of  March,  1684,  the 
day  after  they  issued  his  commission,  they  wrote  to  Gov- 
ernor West  instructions  containing  thirty-eight  articles, 
which  repealed  all  former  instructions  and  temporary  laws, 
and  ordered  the  third  set  of  Fundamental  Constitutions 
V    1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  113. 


^08  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLmA 

(i.e.  of  January,  1682)  to  be  subscribed  and  put  in  prac- 
tice. The  members  of  the  Grand  Council,  who  repre- 
sented the  people,  protested  against  this  measure,  which 
sought  with  so  decisive  a  step  to  change  the  government 
of  the  colony.^ 

Governor  West  contended  with  these  difficulties  for  a 
year  without  success,  when,  hampered  by  his  instructions, 
and  finding  it  impossible  to  reconcile  the  growing  differ- 
ences between  the  Proprietors  and  the  colonists,  utterly 
disheartened  he  gave  up,  and,  it  is  said,  abandoned  the 
province.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  subsequent  career.^ 
Oldmixon,  who  wrote  in  1708,  mentions  "  Mr.  Landgrave 
West's  plantation,"  which  implies  that  he  was  still  living 
and  owned  the  place;  but  whether  alive  or  residing  in  the 
province  is  not  more  definitely  stated.^  West  had  thus 
acted  three  times  as  Governor,  on  each  occasion  being  the 
choice  of  the  people,  and  twice  under  commission  from 
the  Proprietors.  He  was  for  a  longer  time  Governor 
than  any  other  under  the  Proprietors.  In  ja.  government, 
says  Rivers,  carefully  planned  to  be  an  aristocracy,  and 
under  the  fostering  direction  of  distinguished  nobility  in 
England,  he,  a  plebeian,  faithful,  wise,  and  modest,  became 
for  fifteen  years  the  guiding  spirit  of  all  that  was  good 
and  successful.* 

But  wise  and  good  as  he  was,  twice  he  was  put  aside  by 
the  Proprietors  to  suit  their  pride  or  their  interest  —  once 
for  Sir  John  Yeamans,  not  because  of  any  fault  of  his,  but 
because  Sir  John  was  a  Landgrave,  and  the  Proprietors 
could  not  as  yet  bring  themselves  to  raise  their  humble, 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  139,  UO'i^CoU.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So. 
Ca.,  vol.  I,  114. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  141. 

8  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  513  *- Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  452. 

4  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  141. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  209 

faithful  servant  to  that  dignity.  The  next  time  he  was 
made  to  give  way  to  a  new-comer  of  wealth  and  influence. 
It  was  during  his  administration,  February  16,  1684-85, 
that  the  Proprietors  announced  the  death  of  King  Charles 
II  and  the  accession  of  his  brother  James,  and  instructed 
him  to  proclaim  the  new  King  at  Charles  Town  and  Lon- 
don,i  which  was  accordingly  done. 

^    1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.j  vol.  I,  113. 


CHAPTER  X 

1685-92 

On  the  retirement  of  West,  the  Council  chose  Morton 
as  Governor;  the  Proprietors  confirmed  their  choice  and 
in  September,  1685,  sent  him  their  commission.  Gov- 
ernor Morton's  second  administration  was  still  shorter  than 
his  first,  but  it  is  memorable  for  three  important  events: 
(1)  The  refusal  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  sub- 
scribe the  Fundamental  Constitutions ;  and  their  conse- 
quent expulsion  from  Parliament.  (2)  The  establishment 
in  Carolina  of  a  revenue  officer  under  his  Majesty  to  en- 
force the  customs  and  the  navigation  laws  ;  and  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  people  to  his  demands.  (3)  An  invasion  by 
the  Spaniards,  and  the  destruction  of  Lord  Cardross's 
colony  at  Port  Royal. 

The  Parliament  which  convened  in  November,  1685, 
consisted  of  eight  deputies  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  and 
twenty  commoners,  of  whom  one  was  absent.  The  depu- 
ties were  Joseph  Morton,  Robert  Quarry,  John  Godfrey, 
Paul  Grimball,  Stephen  Bull,  Joseph  Morton,  Jr.,  John 
Farr,  and  William  Dunlop.  Governor  Morton,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  instructions  sent  to  Governor  West,  called 
on  the  members  to  subscribe  the  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions of  1682.  Twelve  of  the  nineteen  refused  to 
do  so,  because,  as  they  said,  they  had  already  subscribed 
to  those  of  July,  1669.  The  Governor  thereupon  ordered 
them  to  quit  the  house.     They  protested,  without  avail, 

210 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  211 

against  the  tyranny  of  their  ejectment.  The  remaining 
seven  enacted  all  the  laws  passed  at  that  session  of  Parlia- 
ment.^ These  were,  however,  but  four  in  number: 
(1)  The  act  which  had  been  sent  out  for  restraining  and 
punishing  privateers.  (2)  An  act  for  the  better  security 
of  the  province  against  hostile  invasions  and  attempts  by  sea 
or  land,  which  the  neighboring  Spaniards  or  other  enemy 
might  make  upon  the  same.  (3)  An  act  for  reviving 
several  acts  theretofore  made  which  had  expired. 
(4)  An  act  fixing  the  fees  chargeable  to  the  register  of 
births,  marriages,  and  burials.^ 

In  1685  George  Muschamp  arrived  at  Charles  Town  as 
the  first  Collector  of  the  King's  revenue,  and  the  Governor 
and  Council  were  instructed  "not  to  fail  to  show  their 
forwardness  in  assisting  in  the  collection  of  the  duty  on 
tobacco  transported  to  other  colonies ;  or  seizing  ships  that 
presumed  to  trade  contrary  to  the  acts  of  navigation."  ^ 
Muschamp's  arrival  introduced  into  Carolina  a  subject 
which  had  already  been  the  cause  of  great  animosity  and 
contention  in  other  colonies,  especially  in  Barbadoes,  —  a 
grievance  which  was  really  the  cause  of  the  great  revolu- 
tion of  near  a  hundred  years  after. 

The  Navigation  act,  which  was  the  basis  of  England's 
commercial  prosperity,  had  originated  in  no  enlarged  view 
of  statesmanship.  Its  rudiments  were  laid  by  the  Long 
Parliament  with  the  narrow  view  of  crippling  the  West 
India  sugar  colonies  which  held  out  for  the  Royal  cause,  by 
stopping  the  gainful  trade  which  they  then  carried  on  with 
the  Dutch,  and  at  the  same  time  clipping  the  wings  of 
those  opulent  and  aspiring  neighbors.  The  act  prohibited 
all  ships  of  foreign  nations  from  trading  with  any  English 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  141,  142. 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  7-14. 

8  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann.;  Carroll's  Coll.,  322. 


212  .         HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

plantations  without  license  from  the  Council  of  State.  In 
1651  the  prohibition  was  extended  also  to  the  mother 
country,  and  no  goods  were  suffered  to  be  imported  into 
England  or  any  of  its  dependencies  in  any  other,  than  - 
English  bottoms,  or  in  the  ships  of  that  European  nation, 
of  which  the  merchandise  imported  was  the  genuine 
growth  or  manufacture.^ 

The  Barbadians  vigorously  protested  against  this  meas- 
ure, which,  was  aimed  chiefly  at  their  trade  with  the 
Netherlanders.  A  spirited  declaration  was  drawn  up  and 
subscribed  by  Lord  Willoughby,  the  members  of  his  Council, 
and  the  assembly  of  Barbadoes,  stating  their  objections  and 
expressing  their  firm  resolution  of  opposing  the  act  of 
Parliament  to  the  utmost  extent  of  their  power.  It  is 
most  interesting  to  observe  that  in  their  admirable  ad- 
dress, the  Barbadians,  more  than  a  hundred  years  before, 
anticipated  the  fundamental  ground  of  the  Americfln  Rev- 
olution by  the  bold  declaration,  —  "  they  totally  disclaimed 
the  authority  of  the  British  Parliament  in  which  they  were 
not  represented.""  To  submit  to  such  a  jurisdiction,  they 
asserted,  would  be  a  species  of  slavery  far  exceeding  any- 
thing which  the  nation  had  yet  suffered,  and  they  affected 
not  to  doubt  —  they  declared  —  that  the  courage  which 
had  enabled  them  to  sustain  the  hardships  and  dangers 
which  they  had  encountered  in  a  region  remote  from 
their  native  clime,  would  continue  to  support  them  in 
the  maintenance  of  that  freedom  without  which  life  it- 
self would  be  uncomfortable  and  of  little  value.^  Brave 
words,  which  were  sustained  by  an  equally  brave  resist- 
ance !  But  Barbadoes  was  reduced  by  the  parlia- 
mentary forces,  and  the  act  imposed  upon  them.  The 
Barbadians  looked  with  confidence  that,  upon  the  Restora- 

1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  418. 

2  Foyer's  Hist,  of  Barbadoes,  53-55. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  213 

tion,  this  act  would  have  been  set  aside,  but  the  benefits 
resulting  to  England  from  a  system  which  accident  and 
resentment,  rather  than  any  ideas  of  true  policy,  had  sug- 
gested to  Cromwell,  soon  put  an  end  to  any  such  hopes.^ 
The  only  material  alteration  made  was  to  increase  its 
rigor.  By  Statute  12  Car.  II,  c.  18,  it  was  in  addi- 
tion prescribed  that  the  master  and  three-fourths  of  the 
mariners  of  every  vessel  importing  goods  into  England  or 
into  any  of  its  dependencies  should  also  be  English  sub- 
jects.2  It  was  this  law  which  Muschamp  had  now  come 
to  enforce  upon  this  colony. 

The  Carolina  colonists,  following  the  line  of  their  first 
strict  constructionist,  "  Will  Owen,"  who  no  longer,  how- 
ever, appears  in  their  Councils,  took  the  position  that 
their  charter  having  been  granted  subsequently  to  the 
passing  of  the  Navigation  act,  superseded  that  law  in 
this  province.^  Their  resistance  to  the  act,  we  may  be 
sure,  did  not,  however,  rest  solely  upon  this  ingenious 
view.  If  it  had  not  been  suggested,  the  colonists  would 
doubtless  have  done  just  as  they  did  without  this  excuse. 
They  disregarded  Mr.  Muschamp,  and  traded  as  they 
pleased.  The  point  raised  by  the  colonists  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  given  the  government  at  home  some  con- 
cern. This  reception  of  the  King's  officer  by  the  colonists 
was  at  this  time  well  calculated  to  give  great  anxiety  to 
the  Lords  Proprietors,  for  James  II  wanted  but  an  excuse 
to  revoke  their  charter.  He  had,  indeed,  already  deter- 
mined to  suppress  all  the  Proprietary  governments ;  had  in- 
structed the  Attorney  General  to  proceed  by  quo  warranto 
against  them ;  and  proceedings  were  actually  pending  at 

1  Poyer's  Hist,  of  Barbadoes,  77. 

2  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  419. 

8  Chalmers's  Pol.  Arm.;  Carroll's  Coll.,  322  ;  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers), 
148. 


214  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

this  time  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  the  charter 
governments  of  New  England.  The  Proprietors  of  Caro- 
lina, however,  bent  to  the  storm,  and  it  passed  over  them 
for  the  time.^ 

The  misfortunes  of  the  Scotch  exiles  did  not  end  upon 
their  arrival  in  Carolina.  It  might  have  been  supposed 
that  the  colony  at  Charles  Town  would  have  hailed  with 
joy  the  establishment  of  another  at  Port  Royal,  if  for  no 
other  than  the  selfish  reason  of  the  protection  which  such 
a  colony  would  have  interposed  between  them  and  the 
hostile  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine.  But,  on  the  contrary^ 
they  received  the  Scotch  exiles  with  little  favor.  Jealous- 
ies soon  arose  with  regard  to  the  political  power  of  the  new 
settlement.  Lord  Cardross  claimed  from  his  agreement 
with  the  Proprietors  coordinate  authority  with  the  Gov- 
ernors and  Grand  Council  at  Charles  Town.  This  was  re- 
sented, and  Morton  and  his  Council  continuing  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  over  persons  within  the  territory  given  to  Lord 
Cardross,  his  Lordship  with  Hamilton,  Montgomerie,  and 
Dunlop  joined  in  a  communication,  which  was  taken  by 
Dunlop  in  person  to  the  Governor  and  Council  at  Charles 
Town ;  in  which  they  with  dignity  and  forbearance  ex- 
postulated against  this  conduct,  reminding  them  that  both 
communities  were  under  the  same  King  and  the  same 
Lords  Proprietors ;  that  it  was  against  the  interest  of  either 
to  allow  jealousies,  especially  at  a  time  when  they  had 
ground  to  apprehend  a  Spanish  invasion.  Dunlop  would 
inform  them  —  they  wrote  —  of  the  "  sinistrous  dealings  " 
of  two  noted  Indians,  Wina  and  Antonio^  who  were  insti- 
gating the  Indians  around  to  hostilities  among  themselves, 
and  against  their  settlement,  and  were  entertaining  a  spy 
from  St.  Augustine  or  St.  Mary's,     They  requested  the 

1  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann.  ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  S2Z  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  149;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  362,  353. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  215 

Governor  and  Council  at  Charles  Town  to  deliver  to  Dun- 
lop  six  guns  the  Lords  Proprietors  had  promised  them. 
These  overtures  met  with  a  rude  repulse ;  the  Grand 
Council  persisted  in  their  complaints  —  they  even  went 
further  and  summoned  Lord  Cardross  before  them,  as  if 
to  answer  for  some  high  misdemeanor ;  and  when  he  did 
not  come,  they  affected  to  treat  his  failure  to  appear  as  a 
contempt,  though  his  Lordship,  overcome  by  the  heat  of 
a  climate  to  which  he  was  not  accustomed,  lay  at  Port 
Royal  prostrate  with  fever.^  Another  instance  is  here 
presented  of  the  ill-judgment  and  impracticability  of  all 
the  Proprietors'  schemes.  Two  jurisdictions  were  set  up 
without  a  clear  line  of  demarcation  between  them,  and 
with  doubtful  and  conflicting  powers.  Lord  Cardross, 
disgusted  with  his  arrest  and  ill-usage,  abandoned  the 
struggle  and,  fortunately  for  himself,  retired  before  the 
blow  fell  upon  the  colony,  of  which  his  associates  and 
himself  had  in  vain  warned  the  Governor  and  Council  at 
Charles  Town.  He  returned  to  Scotland  and  took  an 
active  part  in  the  political  revolution  which  was  then  at 
hand.2 

The  two  Dunlops,  William  and  Alexander,  who  came 
out  with  Lord  Cardross,  were  both  men  of  influence,  and 
became  of  considerable  temporary  consequence  in  the 
colony.  William,  who  bore  the  communication  to  the 
Governor  and  Council,  did  not  get  the  guns  for  which  he 
applied ;  but  on  the  18th  of  November  the  Proprietors 
wrote  that  they  had  appointed  Alexander  Dunlop  sheriff 
of  Port  Royal,  and  directed  the  guns  to  be  delivered  to 
him  or  to  Lord  Cardross.^     They  at  the  same  time  recom- 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  142,  143;  Appendix,  407-409; 
Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  84,  85. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  140 ;  Oldmixon,  Carroll's  Coll., 
411. 

3  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  116. 


216  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

mend  William  Dunlop  to  the  consideration  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  at  Charles  Town,  and  on  the  23d  of 
that  month  he  appears  as  a  deputy  among  them.^  It  is 
probable  that  it  was  through  his  influence  the  act  was 
passed  attempting  to  provide  for  the  better  security  of 
the  province  against  Spanish  invasion.  But,  beside  the 
passing  of  the  acts  which  recognized  a  state  of  war  as 
actually  existing  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Caro- 
linians, nothing  was  done  to  meet  the  threatened  emer- 
gency. 

Lord  Cardross  had  warned  Governor  Morton  and  his 
Council  of  the  threatened  invasion,  but  in  vain.  They 
would  not  even  send  him  the  dismounted  and  useless 
guns  lying  at  old  Charles  Town,  which  had  been  prom- 
ised by  the  Proprietors,  until  ordered  to  do  so  by  their 
Lordships  in  November,  1685.  The  Scotch  colony  at 
Port  Royal  was  utterly  (i^stroyed  in  consequence,  but 
it  did  not  suffer  alone.  The  Governor  himself  was  made 
to  feel  the  blow. 

In  the  summer  of  1686  the  Spaniards  appeared.^  They 
came  suddenly  with  three  galleys,  —  a  hundred  white 
men,  with  an  auxiliary  forae  of  Indians  and  negroes,  — 
and  landed  on  the  Edisto.  ^They  sacked  the  houses  of 
Governor  Morton  and  of  Mr.  Grimball,  the  Secretary  of 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca..,  vol.  II,  9.  tA.fter  remaining  in  the  colony  for 
some  years  and  taking  an  active  part  in  its  affairs,  William  Dunlop  re- 
turned to  Scotland  in  1690,  and  became  principal  of  the  University  of 
Glasgow.     Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  117. 

2  The  exact  date  of  the  appearance  of  the  Spaniards  is  nowhere  given. 
Chalmers  states  that  it  was  "  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1680."  But  it 
certainly  took  place  before  October,  for  the  Parliament  was  assembled, 
and  passed  an  act  in  consequence  of  it,  on  the  15th  of  October.  It 
was  certainly  later  than  March,  as  Edward  Randolph  refers  to  it  as  hap- 
pening in  1086,  by  the  old  style  the  year  beginning  in  March.  The  calling 
of  the  Parliament,  the  appeal  to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  etc.,  which  took 
place,  would  indicate  that  it  must  have  been  some  time  before  October. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  217 

the  province,  who  were  at  Charles  Town,  and  pillaged 
them  to  the  value  of  £3000  sterling,  carrying  off  money, 
plate,  and  thirteen  slaves  of  the  Governor,  and  murdering 
his  brother-in-law.  They  then  turned  upon  the  Scotch 
settlers  at  Port  Royal,  but  twenty-five  of  whom  were  in 
sufficient  health  to  oppose  them.  The  Spaniards  killed 
some,  took  others  captive,  whom  they  whipped  in  a 
barbarous  manner,  and  plundered  and  utterly  destroyed 
the  settlement.  The  few  who  remained  of  this  unfortu- 
nate company  found  refuge  in  Charles  Town.^ 

Party  strife  was  now  forgotten  in  the  excitement.  An 
appeal  was  made  to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  and  in  the 
memorial  sent  they  were  prayed  to  represent  the  matter 
to  his  Majesty .2  But  the  Carolina  colonists  did  not  wait 
for  an  answer  to  this  appeal,  which  could  not  reach  them 
for  months.  They  determined  to  take  the  matter  into 
their  own  hands,  and  to  give  the  Spaniards  a  lesson 
which  would  deter  them  from  any  repetition  of  insult  and 
invasion.  Unable  to  defend  the  wide  extent  of  their 
territory  at  all  points,  they  determined  that  the  best 
measure  of  defence  was  boldly  to  strike  at  the  heart  of 
the  enemy.  The  Governor  and  Council  countenancing 
the  scheme,  a  Parliament  was  summoned,  and  on  the  15th 
of  October  an  act  passed  for  the  immediate  invasion  of 
the  Spanish  territory.  An  assessment  of  X500,  equiva- 
lent probably  to  about  $10,000,  was  made,  and  Joseph  Pen- 
darvis  and  William  Popell  were  appointed  Receivers  of  the 
moneys  raised.  All  the  powers  of  the  Grand  Council 
were  vested  for  the  time  in  the  Governor  and  any  four 
of  the  Council.  Preparations  were  all  completed.  Two 
vessels  were  fitted  out,  and  four  hundred  men  were  ready 
to  sail  for  the  conquest  of  St.  Augustine,  when  the  ex- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  143,  144  ;  Appendix,  425,  443. 

2  Ihid. 


218  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

pedition  was  suddenly  stopped  by  the  arrival  from  Bar- 
badoes  of  James  Colleton,  brother  of  the  Proprietor,  who 
had  been  created  a  Landgrave,  and  brought  with  him 
a  commission  as  Governor  of  Carolina.  He  threatened 
to  hang  any  of  the  colonists  who  persisted  in  their  project, 
and  they  reluctantly  abandoned  it.^  This  was  the  un- 
fortunate beginning  of  a  weak  and  disastrpus  rule. 

James  Colleton  was  one  of  the  distinguished  family  of 
Colletons  from  Barbadoes.  Like  his  father,  Sir  John,  and 
his  brother,  Sir  Peter,  he  had  occupied  a  prominent  posi- 
tion there,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  that 
island  from  the  parish  of  St.  John's.  To  his  dignity  of 
Landgrave,  48,000  acres  of  land  were  inalienably  annexed 
under  the  Constitutions.  In  an  old  map  of  1715  Colleton's 
baronies  are  put  down  as  covering  most  of  what  is  still 
known  as  St.  John's  Parish,  Berkeley ,2  and  we  may  safely 
assume  that  in  laying  out  and  naming  the  parishes  in  1706, 
that  parish,  as  well  as  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  Colleton, 
received  their  names  from  the  old  home  of  the  family 
in  Barbadoes.  Unfortunately,  James  Colleton  possessed 
neither  the  address  nor  abilities  of  the  other  members 
of  his  family.  His  career  in  Carolina  began  most  unhappily. 
His  conduct  from  the  outset  aroused  the  deepest  resent- 
ment of  the  colonists. 

The  Proprietors,  threatened  at  this  time  with  the  quo 
warranto  proceedings  and  the  forfeiture  of  their  charter,  — 
subservient  to  the  Royal  humor,  which  was  now  intent 
upon  preserving  a  nominal  peace  with  Spain,  —  promptly 
approved  the  action  of  the  new  Governor.  While  the 
colonists  were  burning  with  indignation  at  so  unexpected 
and  unworthy  a  termination  of  their  efforts,  the  Lords 
Proprietors  wrote  to  Colleton :  "  We  are  glad  that  you 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  144  ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.^  vol.  II,  16. 

2  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1886. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  219 

have  stopped  the  expedition  against  St.  Augustine.  If  it 
had  proceeded,  Mr.  Morton,  Colonel  Godfrey,  and  others 
might  have  answered  it  with  their  lives."  ^  They  proceed 
meanly  to  justify  the  raid  of  the  Spaniards  upon  the 
ground  that  the  colonists  had  harbored  pirates  who  were 
warring  on  them,  and  to  argue  "  that  every  rational  man 
must  have  foreseen  that  the  Spaniards  thus  provoked" 
(i.e.  by  the  harboring  of  pirates)  would  assuredly  retaliate  ; 
that  the  clause  in  the  patent  (i.e.  the  Royal  charter)  that 
had  been  relied  on  to  justify  the  measure  "  meant  only  a 
pursuit  in  heat  of  victory,  but  not  a  deliberate  making  of 
war  on  the  King  of  Spain's  subjects  within  her  own  terri- 
tories, nor  do  we  claim  any  such  power.  No  man,"  they 
wrote,  "  can  think  that  the  dependencies  of  England  can 
have  power  to  make  war  upon  the  King's  allies  without 
his  knowledge  or  consent."  ^  This  angry  message  on  the 
part  of  the  Proprietors,  manifestly  prepared  rather  for 
the  political  atmosphere  of  London  than  with  regard  to  the 
interests  of  the  colony  in  Carolina,  was,  to  say  the  least,  a 
most  disingenuous  statement  of  the  case.  The  Proprietors 
had  apparently  forgotten  that,  but  a  short  time  before, 
the  Earl  of  Craven  had  written  to  the  Board  of  Trade, 
specifically  denying  that  the  Carolinians  had  ever  harbored 
pirates.^  The  cause  of  the  intense  hostility  of  the  Spaniards 
to  the  Carolinians  was  far  deeper  and  more  abiding.  It 
had  its  origin,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  charters  under 
which  the  Proprietors  claimed.  The  long-threatened 
attack  was  made  because  the  Spaniards  claimed  the  land 
upon  which  Lord  Cardross's  colony  was  settled,  and  re- 
garded the  colony  as  another  encroachment  on  their  terri- 
tory.    It    is   true   that   the   Governor   of    St.   Augustine 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  144. 

2  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann.;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  319,  320. 

3  Ante,  206. 


220  HISTOKY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

disowned  the  invasion,  and  declared  that  it  was  made 
without  his  orders;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  he,  at 
the  same  time,  refused  to  give  up  the  slaves  taken  by 
the  raiders  without  an  order  from  the  King  of  Spain. ^ 
If  the  King  of  Spain  could  thus  connive  at  the  war  made 
by  his  subjects  upon  the  English  colonists,  were  the  colo- 
nists to  remain  supine  and  passively  await  their  own  de- 
struction, while  the  Proprietors,  three  thousand  miles 
away,  were  consulting  the  diplomacy  of  the  court  of 
St.  James  whether  or  not  to  permit  retaliation? 

But  the  provision  in  the  charter  upon  which  the  colo- 
nists relied  explicitly  justified  their  conduct.  The  fif- 
teenth clause  recited  and  provided :  "  And  because  that  in 
so  remote  a  country  and  scituate  among  so  many  barbarous 
nations  as  well  of  savages  as  other  enemies  pirates  and 
robbers  may  probably  be  feared,"  authority  was  expressly 
given  to  the  Proprietors  "by  themselves  or  their  captains 
or  other  officers  to  levy  muster  and  train  up  all  sorts  of 
men  of  what  condition  so  ever,  or  wheresoever  born, 
whether  in  the  said  province  or  elsewhere,  for  the  time 
being  to  make  war  and  pursue  the  enemy  aforesaid^  as  well  hy 
sea  as  hy  land,  yea,  even  without  the  limits  of  the  said  prov- 
ince and  by  God's  assistance  to  vanquish  and  take  them 
and  being  taken,  to  put  them  to  death  by  the  law  of  war," 
etc.2  There  is  nothing  in  the  grant  of  sovereign  power  to 
the  viceregal  government  of  the  Proprietors  restricting  it 
to  "only  a  pursuit  in  heat  of  victor}^";  the  power  given 
was  "/or  the  time  being  to  make  war^^  and  to  pursue  the 
enemies  beyond  the  limits  of  the  province.  The  plea, 
therefore,  of  the  want  of  authority  to  allow  the  colonists 
to  strike  a  manly  blow  in  their  own  defence  was  a  paltry 

1  Edward  Randolph  to  Board  of  Trade,  Appendix  Hist.  Sketches  of 
So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  443,  444. 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  39. 


UNDER  THE  PKOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  221 

excuse  to  propitiate  the  King,  whose  displeasure  had 
arisen  from  other  causes. 

The  Proprietors  ordered  "a  civil  letter"  to  be  addressed 
to  the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine  inquiring  by  Avhat 
authority  he  acted.^  Thus,  it  will  be  observed,  they  them- 
selves regarded  the  attack  as  no  mere  raid  of  unauthor- 
ized pillagers,  but  an  invasion  sanctioned  by  the  Spanish 
Government;  a  view  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  subse- 
quently sustained  by  the  action  of  the  Spanish  Governor 
in  spite  of  his  denial.  In  further  confirmation  of  this,  a 
new  Governor  having  come  to  St.  Augustine,  he  dis- 
patched a  friar  to  Charles  Town  to  treat  with  the  gov- 
ernment here  upon  the  subject. 

And  now  fresh  cause  of  offence  was  given  by  Colleton 
to  the  people,  and  grave  suspicion  aroused  as  to  the 
honesty  of  his  conduct.  He  refused  to  consult  with  the 
"  commoners "  in  his  Council,  as  the  representatives  of 
the  people  were  termed,  and  only  mentioned  the  Spanish 
messenger  to  them  when  he  had  to  ask  their  consent  to 
his  maintenance  out  of  the  public  treasury.  Passing  by 
"  the  bloody  insolence  the  Spaniards  had  committed,"  Col- 
leton, who  could  not  pursue  them  in  war,  without  the 
King's  consent,  now  enters  into  a  treaty  of  commerce  with 
their  agent,  the  friar.  In  pursuance  of  this  agreement,  the 
Spanish  Governor  sent  what  he  considered  the  actual  cost 
of  the  plunder  which  had  been  carried  off ;  but  would  not 
return  the  captured  negroes,  who  were  actually  employed 
in  building  a  fort  near  St.  Augustine.  The  colonists  com- 
plained bitterly  of  the  Governor's  conduct.  He  had  acted, 
it  was  said,  contrary  to  the  honor  of  the  English  nation, 
and  for  a  little  filthy  lucre  had  buried  in  silence  atrocities 
upon  Englishmen  who  wanted  not  courage  to  do  them- 
selves honorable  satisfaction.^     They  were,  no  doubt,  all 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  145.     2  jud.,  145  ;  Appendix,  425. 


222  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAKOLTNA 

the  more  chagrined  when  they  afterwards  learned  that 
the  Spaniards,  upon  hearing  that  they  were  coining  to 
avenge  their  wrongs,  had  left  their  town  and  their  castle 
and  fled  into  the  woods  to  save  themselves.  The  expedi- 
tion against  St.  Augustine  was  stopped  for  the  time.  But 
it  was  only  postponed.  The  rupture  between  England  and 
Spain  in  a  few  years  allowed  its  renewal ;  but  without  the 
success  which  would  probably  have  been  attained  at  this 
time. 

This  excitement  had  not  yet  abated  when  Mr.  Mus- 
champ,  in  April,  1687,  seized  a  vessel  for  violating  the 
revenue  law,  upon  the  ground  that  four-fifths  of  the  crew 
were  Scotchmen  and  not  Englishmen  —  the  Navigation  act 
not  permitting  Scotchmen  the  benefit  of  its  provisions. 
The  evidence,  upon  the  trial,  Muschamp  had  to  admit,  was 
not  very  clear ;  but  the  colonists  disdained  to  rest  the  case 
upon  the  failure  of  proof.  The  court  released  the  vessel 
and  distinctly  intimated,  it  is  said,  that  had  the  evidence 
been  ever  so  clear,  the  decision  would  not  have  been  other- 
wise, as  the  charter  gave  the  colonists  the  right  to  trade 
with  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  that  they  had  the  right 
to  transport  their  own  product  in  ships  navigated  by 
Scotchmen.  Mr.  Muschamp's  report  was  referred  to 
Powis,  the  Attorney  General  of  England,  who  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  the  trade,  i.e.  that  to  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  was  most  directly  contrary  to  the  acts  of  Parlia- 
ment; and  though  the  charter  of  the  colony  was  subse- 
quent to  the  navigation  acts,  there  was  no  color  for  the 
claim  that  it  superseded  those  statutes  unless  it  was  so 
expressly  provided.  Upon  the  point  whether  it  was  so 
expressly  provided  in  the  charter,  he  gave  no  opinion,  but 
advised  that  the  charter  should  be  inspected,  and  if  it 
should  appear  that  the  charter  did  exempt  the  colonists 
from  its  operation,  he  would  then  be  prepared  to  give  his 


tJNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  223 

opinion  whether  an  act  of  Parliament  could  be  overridden 
by  a  charter.! 

The  Proprietors  were  not  slow  in  perceiving  the  drift 
and  intimation  of  this  opinion  and  were  prompt  in  dis- 
claiming any  right  to  exemption  from  the  navigation  laws, 
which,  they  humbly  conceived,  "must  be  the  discourse  of 
ignorant  and  loose  people  only  and  not  of  any  concerned 
in  the  government."  They  had  no  doubt  but  that  the 
ship  seized  by  Mr.  Muschamp  would  have  been  condemned 
if  there  had  been  sufficient  proof.  They  did  not  know, 
they  said,  what  encouragement  any  ships  from  Scotland 
or  Ireland  could  have  to  trade  at  Carolina,  the  inhabitants 
having  hardly  overcome  their  want  of  victuals,  and  having 
nothing  to  export  but  a  few  skins  and  a  little  cedar,  both 
of  which  did  not  amount  yearly  to  £2000.^ 

A  large  majority  of  the  representatives  of  the  people 
had,  as  we  have  seen,  refused  their  assent  to  the  act  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  of  1682  which  Governor  West 
had  been  instructed  to  have  subscribed,  and  which  in- 
structions Governor  Morton  had  attempted  to  enforce. 
The  refractory  commoners  had  been  excluded  from  the 
House,  and,  returning  to  their  homes,  spread  disaffection 
everywhere.  The  dissentei-s,  observes  Rivers,  who  had 
left  England  in  considerable  numbers,  driven  by  their 
apprehension  of  persecution  under  the  coming  reign  of 
James  II,  had  at  first,  in  changing  from  a  worse  to  a  bet- 
ter condition,  naturally  supported  the  submissive  party  in 
the  colony.  In  particular,  Joseph  Blake,  whose  daughter 
Morton  had  married,  added  his  influence  in  checking  and 
allaying  "the  extravagant  spirit"  of  the  discontented. 
But  the  more  extravagant  spirit  of  the  instructions  sent 
to  Carolina  threw  the  majority  of   the  people,  however, 

1  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann.  ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  342,  345. 

2  Ibid. 


224  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

differing  in  their  principles  on  some  matters,  into  the  ranks 
of  the  opposition  party. 

.  The  Proprietors  had  hitherto  been  greatly  disappointed 
in  the  character  of  their  Governors,  who  had  generally,  as 
they  considered,  opposed  their  views  or  exerted  them- 
selves in  too  feeble  a  manner  to  promote  them.  Sayle 
had  been  a  good  man,  but  a  weak  Governor.  Yeamans 
had  proved  ambitious  and  selfish,  and  inclined  to  make 
the  interest  of  Carolina  subservient  to  that  of  Barbadoes. 
West  had  been  wise  and  prudent,  but  he  had  not  had 
the  force  —  if  he  had  the  will  —  to  meet  and  encounter 
the  party  who  were  beginning  to  demand  constitutional 
liberty  under  the  charter,  and  to  refuse  to  be  governed 
except  under  its  provisions.  Then  they  had  tried  Morton, 
—  a  new  man,  unconnected  with  the  early  disputes  in  the 
colony,  and  who,  for  the  substantial  civil  and  religious 
liberty  he  was  to  enjoy,  was  willing  to  accept  the  forms 
of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  especially  when  flat- 
tered with  the  dignity  of  a  Landgrave  under  them.  The 
Proprietors  soon,  however,  found  that  Morton's  principles 
inclined  him  to  their  opponents  rather  than  to  themselves. 
But  in  Landgrave  Colleton  they  reposed  entire  confidence, 
expecting  much  from  his  talents  and  still  more  from  his 
attachments.  He  built  himself  a  fine  mansion  at  old 
Charles  Town,  received  from  the  Parliament  an  ampler 
support  than  had  been  enjoyed  by  former  Governors,  and, 
secure  of  the  good  will  of  the  Proprietors  through  the 
influence  of  his  brother,  he  no  doubt  looked  forward  to 
prosperity  and  happiness  in  the  new  home  to  which  he 
brought  his  family.  The  Proprietors,  indeed,  had  never 
been  more  faithfully  represented.^  It  might  have  been 
better  for  them  had  Colleton's  devotion  to  their  interests 
blinded  him  to  that  of  the  province,  which  was,  in 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  161. 


UNDER   THE    PROPKIETARY   GOVERKMENT  226 

fact,  inseparable  from  their  own.  His  instructions  required 
him  to  punish  the  former  Governor  and  officers  for  various 
offences,  to  execute  the  law  against  pirates  with  rigor,  and 
to  put  down  the  faction  consisting  of  men  of  various  views 
and  avowing  different  principles ;  ''  Sprang  up  as  we  are 
assured,"  said  the  Lords  Proprietors,  "as  rampant  as  if  the 
people  had  been  made  wanton  by  many  ages  of  prosperity."  ^ 
**  The  Proprietors,  in  their  zeal  to  appease  the  Royal  au- 
thorities, had  sneered  at  the  commerce  of*  their  province, 
and  yet  out  of  the  seven  acts  passed  during  Colleton's  ad- 
ministration before  his  rupture  with  the  Parliament,  five  of 
them  relate  to  the  commerce  of  the  place,  indicating  that 
notwithstanding  all  the  troubles  of  the  colony  its  business 
was  steadily  increasing.  The  acts  passed  were  (1)  "  For 
servants  hereafter  arriving  without  indentures  or  con- 
tracts "  ;  (2)  "  For  the  preventing  seamen  from  contracting 
great  debts  "  ;  (3)  "  For  regulating  the  entryes  of  vessels," 
etc. ;  (4)  "  For  the  tryall  of  small  and  meane  causes " ; 
(5)  "  For  the  levying  an  assessment  of  eight  hundred 
pounds  " ;  (6)  "  To  ascertain  the  prices  of  commodityes 
of  the  countryes  growth " ;  (7)  "  To  ascertain  damages 
upon  protested  bills  of  exchanges."  ^ 

The  last  of  these  statutes  was  passed  on  the  23d  of 
July,  1687.  There  were  no  other  enactments  during 
Colleton's  administration,  nor  was  there  any  other  legis- 
lation for  three  years.  During  this  time  fierce  contests 
distracted  the  several  parliaments  that  were  held.  In 
1687  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  Paul  Grim- 
ball  and  William  Dunlop,  deputies,  Bernard  Schenkingh, 
Thomas  Smith,  John  Farr,  and  Joseph  Blake,  commoners, 
were  appointed  to  consider  whether  the  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions might  be  modified  in  any  way  to  make  them  ac- 

1  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann.,  323,  324. 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  30-38. 


226  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ceptable  both  to  the  Proprietors  and  to  the  people.  "  The 
work  grew  voluminously,"  it  was  said,  and  was  then  aban- 
doned amidst  angry  discussions;  the  people  declined  to 
regard  any  other  set  but  that  sent  out  with  Governor  Sayle 
in  1669.1  At  length  Colleton,  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1687-88,  in  some  passion  produced  a  letter  from  the 
Proprietors,  dated  March  3,  1686-87,  in  which  they 
"utterly  denied  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  of  July, 
1669,  declaring  them  to  be  but  a  copy  of  an  imperfect 
original."  As  the  Proprietors  manifestly  did  not  know 
their  own  minds,  the  delegates  of  the  people,  naturally 
impatient  and  indignant  at  this  trifling  with  their  inter- 
ests and  their  rights,  and  never  having  assented  to  any 
set  as  required  by  the  charters,  '''•unanimously  declared 
that  the  government  is  now  to.  be  directed  and  managed 
wholly  and  solely  according  to  the  said  charters.''''  They 
then  went  a  step  further  and  "  denied  that  any  bill  must 
necessarily  pass  the  grand  council  before  it  can  be  read 
in  parliament."  During  two  sessions  the  Governor  and 
the  deputies  of  the  Proprietors  insisting  on  proceeding 
according  to  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  and  the  dele- 
gates of  the  people  refusing  to  do  so,  all  legislative  pro- 
ceedings were  blocked;  not  even  the  militia  act  was 
passed  which  was  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  colony. 
The   delegates   proposed,  for   the  maintenance  of   peace 

1  Oldmixon,  who  was  a  tutor  in  Benjamin  Blake's  family,  and  had, 
therefore,  excellent  means  of  information,  gives  the  names  of  the  com- 
mittee as  stated  in  the  text.  He  states  that  this  committee  "drew  up  a 
new  form  of  government  differing  in  many  articles  from  the  former  to 
which  they  gave  the  title  of  standing  laws;  and  temporary  laws  .  .  . 
But  neither  Lords  Proprietors  nor  the  people  of  Carolina  accepted  of 
them."  The  address  to  Sothell,  which  contains  so  admirable  a  summary 
of  the  history  of  the  colony  to  its  date,  gives  the  account  in  the  text,  i.e. 
that  the  work  was  abandoned  amidst  angry  discussion.  Eivers  has  fol- 
lowed this  account,  and  we  have  preferred  to  do  so  likewise. 


TTNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERKMEI^^T  ^27 

and  justice,  to  assent  and  approve  any  law  as  required  by 
the  direction  of  the  Royal  charter,  but  the  Governor  and 
deputies  refusing  to  allow  any  to  be  acted  upon  until  first 
passed  by  the  Grand  Council,  nothing  was  done.  Finally, 
in  December,  1689,  the  Proprietors  instructed  Colleton  to 
call  no  more  parliaments  without  orders  from  them,  "  un- 
less some  very  extraordinary  occasion  should  require 
it."  As  the  acts  usually  ran  but  for  twenty-three  months 
only,  the  consequence  of  these  instructions  was  that  in 
1690  not  one  statute  law  was  in  force  in  the  colony .^ 

The  issue  was  now  fairly  made  between  the  people,  on 
the  one  hand,  contending  for  constitutional  government 
under  the  charter  and  the  Proprietors,  on  the  other,  claim- 
ing to  govern  by  arbitrary  instructions  uncontrolled  even 
by  the  terms  of  the  "  unalterable  "  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions which  they  had  sent  out  with  the  colony  under 
Sayle.  In  the  meanwhile  there  was  no  law  in  the  prov- 
ince, and  Colleton  proceeded  to  govern  by  his  own  will. 
He  attempted  vigorously  to  exact  payment  of  quit-rent  for 
every  acre  whether  under  cultivation  or  not ;  he  forbade 
all  inland  trade  with  Indians,  in  his  avarice,  as  it  was 
charged,  to  monopolize  the  benefit  for  himself;  and  he 
imprisoned  and  fined  a  clergyman  XlOO  for  preaching  what 
he  considered  a  seditious  sermon.^  To  enable  him  to  main- 
tain his  authority,  he  requested  the  Proprietors  to  appoint 
only  such  deputies  as  he  knew  would  support  his  govern- 
ment. This  led  to  an  outbreak.  Letters  from  England, 
containing  deputations  of  the  Proprietors  obnoxious  to  the 
people,  were  seized  and  suppressed.  The  people  impris- 
oned Paul  Grimball,  the  Secretary  of  the  province,  and 
took  possession  of  all  the  public  records.  The  little  com- 
munity was  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and  every  man  acted  as  he 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  152,  153;  Appendix,  422,  423. 

2  Ibid.,  150. 


228  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

thought  proper,  without  regard  to  legal  authority  and  in  con- 
tempt of  the  Governor  and  other  officers  of  the  Proprietors. 

In  this  emergency  a  number  of  the  colonists  were  in- 
duced to  sign  a  petition  for  the  establishment  of  martial  law, 
and  without  consulting  the  Commons,  though  his  instruc- 
tions from  the  Proprietors  provided  for  his  summoning 
them  if  an  extraordinary  occasion  should  require  it, 
acting  only  on  the  advice  of  the  deputies  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, martial  law  was  declared  by  Colleton  at  the  head 
of  the  militia,  who,  ignorant  of  his  purpose,  had  assembled 
under  his  call  made  upon  pretence  that  some  danger 
threatened  the  country.  The  members  of  the  Assembly 
thereupon  met  without  summons,  and  resolved  that  this 
proceeding  of  the  Governor  was  an  encroachment  upon 
their  liberties  and  an  unwarrantable  exercise  of  power  at  a 
time  when  the  colony  was  in  no  danger  from  a  foreign 
enemy.  The  Governor,  however,  persisted  and  attempted 
to  put  his  martial  law  into  execution,  but  the  disaf- 
fection was  too  great  to  allow  him  to  do  so.  Even  tlie 
signers  of  the  petition  deserted  him  and  declaring  that 
they  had  been  deceived,  now  joined  in  the  cry  against  such 
an  "  illegal  tyrannical  and  oppressive  way  of  government." 
In  the  face  of  this  Colleton  quailed  and  shrank  from 
the  exercise  of  the  power  he  had  assumed.  The  courts 
were  allowed  to  sit,  and  he  attempted  to  exonerate  him- 
self on  the  ground  that  the  delegates  had  refused  to  pass 
the  militia  act,  and  he  feared  an  invasion  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  latter  excuse  was  known  to  be  unfounded ;  and  to  the 
former  thirteen  delegates  replied,  under  oath,  that  they 
had  proposed  to  pass  the  act.  Indeed,  as  the  people 
themselves  constituted  the  only  military  force  in  the 
colony,  this  attempt  to  proclaim  martial  law  was  a  great 
blunder  as  well  as  a  political  crime.^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  154,  155  ;  Appendix,  424,  425. 


UNDER    THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  229 

The  colony  was  verging  upon  anarchy  when  the  arrival 
of  one  Seth  Sothell  who,  as  a  Proprietor,  claimed  the 
government,  put  a  new  phase  upon  the  commotions  and 
overthrew  Colleton's  government,  setting  up  one  in  its 
stead,  which,  in  its  turn,  was  repudiated  by  the  Proprietors. 

The  course  of  events  in  England,  in  the  meanwhile,  had 
been  rapidly  tending  to  the  great  revolution  of  1688, 
which  drove  James  II  from  the  throne ;  and  on  the  1st  of 
March,  1688-89,  the  Proprietors  forwarded  to  Carolina  the 
order  of  council  to  proclaim  King  William  and  Queen 
Mary,  and  annexed  the  oath  to  be  taken.^  Nor  were  the 
other  American  colonies  much  freer  from  commotion 
than  Carolina.  The  tyranny  of  Andros  was  producing 
throughout  New  England  a  powerful  popular  reaction  in 
favor  of  their  charter  governments.  The  failure  of  Lord 
Baltimore's  deputies  to  proclaim  William  and  Mary  gave 
an  opportunity  to  the  disaffected  Protestants  to  incite  a 
revolt  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  his  Lordship's 
charter,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Royal  government. 
Pennsylvania  was  torn  by  various  internal  disputes, 
chiefly  the  religious  schism  caused  by  George  Keith,  the 
Quaker,  and  Penn  was  also  soon  to  be  deprived  of  his 
governorship.  Delaware,  Virginia,  New  York,  and  New 
Jersey,  as  well  as  New  England,  were  now  governed  under 
the  King's  commission.  Yet  the  Proprietors  of  Carolina 
continued  an  uninterrupted  control  over  their  vast  prov- 
ince, -because,  enjoying  "the  hereditary  right  of  com- 
plaining in  person  of  their  wrongs,  they  could  interest  a 
powerful  body  in  their  favor."  ^ 

Sothell  was  a  man  of  remarkable,  if  not  of  good,  char- 
acter and  of   great  ability.     He   had   been  sent  in  1680 

1  Coll,  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 122. 

2  Hist.  /Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  149,  150,  Rivers  quoting  Bevolt  Am.  Col., 
264. 


230  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

to  regulate  the  distracted  affairs  in  the  colony  at  Albe- 
marle, and  on  his  voyage  oat  had  been  captured  by  Alge- 
rine  pirates,  three  years  thus  elapsing  before  his  arrival 
in  America.  He  bore  with  him  the  certificate  of  his 
authority  dated  at  Whitehall,  September,  1681,  which  is 
important  as  declaring  the  views  of  the  Proprietors  to  his 
right  of  government  under  the  Fundamental  Constitutions. 
It  reads  thus  :  — 

"  Whereas  Seth  Sothell  hath  bought  the  Earl  of  Clarendon's  share 
in  Carolina  and  is  thereby  become  one  of  the  true  and  absolute  Lords 
Proprietors  of  the  Province  of  Carolina  and  whereas  by  virtue  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  it  is  provided  that  the  eldest  proprietor  that 
shall  be  In  Carolina  shall  be  governor  you  are  to  obey  him  as  such  if 
there  be  no  elder  proprietor  than  himself." 

Instead  of  settling  matters  at  Albemarle,  his  administra- 
tion there  was  so  marked  by  selfishness  and  rapacity  that 
the  people  rose,  deposed  and  banished  him.^  He  sought 
refuge  in  South  Carolina,  and  arrived  here  just  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  in  this 
colony.  His  right  to  the  government  under  the  Constitu- 
tions, which  the  Proprietors  were  upholding,  was  clear  by 
their  terms,  and  for  this  he  also  held  the  certificate  of  the 
Proprietors  themselves.  He  was  received  with  insult  by 
the  Governor's  party,  but  welcomed  by  the  people  as  a 
refuge  from  Colleton's  tyranny.  Andrew  Percival,  who 
had  been  Governor  of  the  attempted  colony  on  the  Edisto, 
Muschamp,  the  King's  revenue  officer,  Berresford,  who  had 
been  clerk  of  the  peace,  Ralph  Izard,  and  John  Harris 
with  five  hundred  of  the  best  people  petitioned  him  to 
issue  writs  for  a  Parliament.^     This  he  did,  as  he  had  the 

1  All  the  wrongs  and  oppressions  with  which  Hewatt  charges  him  as 
having  been  committed  in  South  Carolina,  were  really  those  for  which  he 
was  driven  out  of  the  colony  at  Albemarle.  Hewatt' s  Hist,  of  So.  Ga.^ 
vol.  I. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  155. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETAKY   GOVERNMENT  231 

right  to  do,  if  the  Constitutions  were  of  any  force ;  but  he 
followed  this  step  up  with  another  measure  which  was 
clearly  illegal.  He  removed  the  deputies  of  the  other 
Proprietors  who  were  opposed  to  him  and  appointed  Mus- 
champ,  Berresf  ord,  and  Harris  in  their  places.^  The  colony 
at  Albemarle  had  banished  him.  His  Parliament  at 
Charles  Town  now  banished  Colleton.  Himself  a  refugee 
from  Albemarle,  he  becomes  the  expeller  of  others  from 
Charles  Town.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bull,  Major  Colleton, 
and  Paul  Grimball  were  disqualified  for  holding  any  civil 
or  military  office  because  they  had  acted  with  Colleton, 
and  Thomas  Smith  because  he  had  written  the  petition  for 
the  establishment  of  martial  law. 

The  adherents  of  Colleton  did  not  yield  without  a 
struggle.  They  could  not,  as  supporters  of  the  Constitu- 
tions, deny  Sothell's  right  to  supersede  Colleton,  —  that 
was  too  plain  by  the  letter  of  that  instrument,  which  the 
Proprietors  had  been  so  insistent  upon  enforcing,  —  and 
Sothell  had,  moreover,  their  own  written  word  for  his  right 
to  do  so.  But  they  demanded  that  before  assuming  office 
he  should  declare  his  approval  of  the  Proprietors'  instruc- 
tions as  a  rule  of  government.  Placards  were  posted  in 
public  places  charging  him  with  treason  and  calling  upon 
the  people  to  withhold  their  obedience  to  his  authority. 

The  Lords  Proprietors,  with  their  usual  vacillation 
and  faithlessness,  abandoned  Colleton.  Before  hearing  of 
Sothell's  assumption  of  the  government,  they  had,  on 
the  6th  of  October,  1690,  appointed  Thomas  Smith  Gov- 
ernor. But  in  May  they  had  heard  that  Sothell  was  at 
Charles  Town  and  had  taken  upon  himself  the  administra- 
tion, and  they  write  that  they  are  well  pleased  that  he  will 
submit  to  their  instructions  for  the  government.  They 
hope  he  is  too  wise  a  man  to  claim  any  power  but  by  virtue  of 
1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  127. 


232  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

them  ;  for,  they  go  on  to  observe,  in  direct  contradiction  to 
their  own  declaration  held  by  Sothell,  that  no  single  Pro- 
prietor by  virtue  of  his  patent  had  any  right  to  the  gov- 
ernment or  to  exercise  any  jurisdiction  unless  especially 
empowered  by  the  rest. 

Hewatt  and  other  writers  have  spoken  of  Sothell  as  an 
usurper,^  but  such  he  certainly  was  not  under  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  which  the  Proprietors  persisted  in 
maintaining  to  be  of  force.  By  these  it  was  expressly  pro- 
vided that  "  the  eldest  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  who  shall 
be  personally  in  Carolina  shall  of  course  be  the  Palatine 
deputy,"  and  if  no  Proprietor  be  in  Carolina,  nor  heir 
apparent  of  any,  then  ''  the  eldest  man  of  the  Landgraves."  ^ 
Under  this  clause,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  last  chapter,  the 
Proprietors,  in  1684,  objected  to  the  selection  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Colonel  Quarry  as  Governor  upon  the  death  of  Kyrle, 
because  the  government  belonged  of  right  to  Morton  as  the 
eldest  Landgrave  in  the  province  at  the  time,  there  being 
then  no  Proprietor  present.  So  again  we  shall  see  them 
excusing  themselves,  in  1699,  for  not  having  obtained  the 
approval  of  the  Royal  Government  to  Blake's  appointment 
as  Governor  upon  the  ground  that  Blake  did  not  exercise 
the  office  by  virtue  of  appointment,  but  by  virtue  of  his 
proprietorship.  And  Sothell  now  held  their  certificate  or 
warrants  that  he  was  to  be  recognized  and  obeyed,  because, 
by  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  "it  is  provided  that 
the  eldest  proprietor  that  shall  be  in  Carolina  shall  be 
governor."  The  colonists  might  have  objected  to  this  com- 
mission, as  they  did  not  recognize  the  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions ;  but  if  they  waived  that  point  and  accepted  him 
under  the  letter  or  certificate  which  he  held  from  their 
Lordships  without  regard  to  the  reason  assigned,  it  cer- 
tainly did  not  lay  with  the  Proprietors  to  object.      The 

1  Hewatt's  Hist.^  vol.  I,  103.  2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  50. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  233 

point  the  Proprietors  made  was  that  no  Proprietor  could 
act  as  Governor  without  the  assent  of  the  others,  but  it 
was  not  so  written,  and  until  the  Constitutions  were  for- 
mally altered  they  remained  the  law,  at  least  for  them.  The 
affair  presents  still  another  instance  of  the  instability  and 
insincerity  of  all  parties.  Here  we  have  the  Proprietors 
denying  the  provisions  of  their  favorite  laws,  and  the 
people,  who  had  so  long  been  resisting,  now  for  their 
immediate  purpose  standing  upon  them,  because  for  the 
time  they  served  their  interest. 

The  Proprietors  were  wise  enough,  however,  for  the 
present  not  to  make  the  issue,  but  summoned  Sothell  to 
return  to  England  and  answer  to  all  the  charges  against 
him  from  both  colonies.  Sothell  did  not  obey  the  sum- 
mons, but  continued  to  act  as  Governor  for  eighteen  months 
longer.  Finally,  in  November,  1692,  the  Proprietoi-s  in 
England  wrote  to  him  that  he  should  cease  to  rule  and 
commanded  him  to  yield  obedience  to  Colonel  Philip 
Ludwell,  whom  they  had  commissioned  to  succeed  him. 
For  reasons  of  his  own,  he  having  now  offended  the  people 
who  had  sustained  him,  he  yielded  to  the  demand  and  left 
the  colony. 

Whatever  may  have  been  Sothell's  private  character, 
however  avaricious  and  disreputable,  however  tyrannical 
and  oppressive  his  conduct  for  personal  gain,  yet  the  wis- 
dom and  liberality  of  the  laws  he  enacted,  the  legislative 
activity  displayed  in  restoring  stability  to  the  colony,  and 
his  judicious  conduct  in  promoting  the  just  wishes  of  the 
people,  throw  a  doubt,  observes  Rivers,  as  to  the  malignant 
character  that  had  been  ascribed  to  him  as  a  public  officer. 
He  it  was  who  had  the  wisdom  to  see  the  usefulness  and 
noble  character  of  the  French  and  Swiss,  who  were  now 
coming  into  the  province  in  considerable  numbers  and  fill- 
ing up  waste  places  in  Craven  County  on  the  Cooper  and 


234  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Santee,  which  were  soon  to  blossom  as  the  rose  under  their 
skilful  and  laborious  cultivation;  and  the  first  to  constitute 
them  citizens  as  free  born  in  the  colony,  and  of  equal 
rights  with  the  other  settlers. 

So,  too,  under  his  administration,  the  first  act  for  the 
government  of  negro  slaves  was  passed.  This  act  fol- 
lowed generally  the  Barbadian  slave  code;  but,  in  more 
than  one  respect,  it  was  an  improvement  upon  that  law, 
especially  in  providing  for  the  punishment  of  any  one  kill- 
ing a  slave.  It  provided,  also,  for  the  slaves'  comfort,  and 
required  that  the}^  should  have  convenient  clothes.^ 

Sothell  yielded  to  Ludwell,  and  returned  to  his  estate 
in  North  Carolina,  where  he  died  in  1694 ;  and  it  is  said 
that  much  of  the  wealth  he  had  accumulated  there  was 
recovered  by  those  from  whom  he  had  unjustly  taken  it. 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  VII,  343. 


CHAPTER  XI 

1692-94 

Colonel  Philip  Ludwell  had  been  secretary  to  Sir 
William  Berkeley,  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  had  taken 
an  active  part  with  him  in  the  suppression  of  Bacon's 
Rebellion.  He  had  been  the  hero  of  Bland's  capture; 
and,  after  Sir  William's  death,  had  married  Dame  Frances, 
the  widow  of  that  fiery  cavalier. ^  In  1689  he  had  been 
appointed  Governor  of  all  that  part  of  the  province  of 
Carolina  that  lies  north  and  east  of  Cape  Fear,  to  super- 
sede Sothell  at  Albemarle.^  Although  the  titles  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  now  began  to  be  used  in  some  official 
papers,  there  was  no  such  division  of  the  province  at  this 
time ;  on  the  contrary,  the  Proprietors  were  now  attempt- 
ing a  plan  of  consolidating  the  two  colonies  into  one  gov- 
ernment for  the  whole  province.^    On  the  2d  of  November, 

-  1  Ludwell  was  the  third  husband  of  Dame  Frances.  This  lady  had  the 
singular  fortune  of  being  the  wife  of  three  Governors  in  succession.  Her 
first  husband  was  Governor  Samuel  Stephens  of  Albemarle ;  her  second, 
Sir  William  Berkeley,  Governor  of  Virginia ;  her  third,  Colonel  Philip  Lud- 
well, now  Governor  of  Carolina.    Hawkes's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  447. 

2  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  362. 

8  Commissions  of  Governors  of  North  Carolina  usually  ran  as  stated  in 
the  text ;  those  of  South  Carolina  ran,  "of  that  part  of  the  province  which 
lies  south  and  west  of  Cape  Fear."-  So  the  enacting  words  of  statutes  of 
South  Carolina  usually  were  in  the  names  of  the  Palatine  and  the  rest  of 
the  Lords  Proprietors  ' '  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  rest 
of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  now  met  at  Charles  Town  for 
the  South  West  part  of  this  province."  This  was  the  usual  form  after 
1690,  but  sometimes  the  word  "  province  "  only  was  used. 

235 


236  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

1691,  Ludvvell's  commission  was  changed  from  that  of 
Governor  of  the  territory  to  the  north  and  east  of  Cape 
Fear,  to  that  of  Governor  of  Carolina,  and  he  was  directed 
to  issue  writs  for  the  choice  of  twenty  delegates  for  the 
freemen  of  Carolina,  —  five  for  Albemarle  County,  five  for 
Colleton  County,  five  for  Berkele}^  County,  and  five  for 
Craven  County,  —  to  meet  in  such  place  and  at  such  time 
as  any  three  or  more  of  the  deputies  should  appoint.  The 
bounds  of  these  counties  were  defined  as  follows :  ^  Albe- 
marle County  was  restricted  to  the  small  but  well-settled 
district  between  the  Roanoke  River  and  Virginia ;  Craven 
County  occupied  all  the  great  extent  of  territory  from  the 
Roanoke  to  Sewee  Bay;  Berkeley,  that  between  Sewee 
Bay  and  the  Edisto,  and  Colleton  County  between  the 
Stono  and  Combahee.  By  additional  instructions,  how- 
ever, Governor  Ludwell  was  directed  that  if  he  found  it 
impracticable  to  have  the  inhabitants  of  Albemarle  send 
delegates  to  the  General  Assembly  held  in  South  Carolina, 
he  was  then  to  issue  writs  for  seven  delegates  to  be  chosen 
for  Berkeley,  seven  for  Colleton,  and  six  for  that  part  of 
Craven  County  that  lay  south  and  west  of  Cape  Fear; 
and  he  was  empowered  to  appoint  a  Deputy  Governor  for 
North  Carolina.^  With  these  instructions,  original  and 
additional,  there  were  sent  also  another  set  of  private 
instructions  with  minute  directions  to  inquire  into  the 
mismanagement  of  former  Governors  and  the  grounds  of 
popular  complaint.  He  was  to  inquire  into  the  charges 
made  by  Percival,  Quarry,  Izard,  Muschamp,  Harris,  and 
Berresford  against  Governor  Colleton ;  to  make  inquiry  as 
to  the  alleged  killing  of  several  Indians,  and,  if  proved, 
to  have  the  guilty  persons  indicted  and  punished ;  to  in- 
quire by  what  authority  Berresford  had  acted  as  deputy, 
and  whether  Sothell  had  refused  to  allow  deputies  of  the 
1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  373.  «  75  j-^. 


tJNDER   THE   PROPRIETAKY   GOVERNMENT  237 

Proprietors  to  act ;  by  what  authority  Robert  Quarry  sat 
as  judge  or  sheriff  of  Berkeley  County ;  and  to  restore 
Bernard  Shinkingh  as  chief  judge  of  same.^  If  he  found 
the  numbers  of  offenders  in  the  late  disorders  to  be  so 
many  that  it  might  be  inconvenient  to  punish  them  all, 
he  was  then  to  grant  pardon  to  all  except  such  as  had 
been  guilty  of  high  treason  and  murder.  He  was  to  pro- 
ceed, however,  against  some  few  of  the  most  notorious 
and  obstinate  offenders,  against  whom  the  proof  of  crimes 
was  plainest.  He  was  to  encourage  people  to  reside  at 
Savannah  town,^  or  any  other  place  among  the  Indians ; 
to  suffer  all  people  to  trade  with  the  Indians.  He  was 
to  make  strict  inquiry  if  Mr.  Sothell  had  granted  any 
commission  to  pirates  for  reward  or  otherwise ;  and  was 
informed  that  "  Jonathan  Emery  "  knew  about  such  trans- 
actions, and  had  received  twenty  guineas  for  procuring  a 
commission  from  Sothell.  The  Proprietors  informed  Lud- 
well  they  had  given  power  to  their  trustees  to  sell  certain 
lands  to  such  persons  as  should  first  have  paid  the  pur- 
chase money  in  pieces  of  eight,  after  the  rate  of  five 
shillings  the  piece  of  eight,  etc.^ 

But  Ludwell,  notwithstanding  the  friendship  of  the 
Proprietors  and  his  desire  to  harmonize  the  distracted 
state  of  the  colony,  entered  upon  his  administration  with 
no  increase  of  power  or  promises  of  reform.  "  Employ  no 
Jacobite,"  the  Proprietors  wrote  on  the  12th  of  April,  1693 ; 
"  beware  of  the  Goose  Creek  men ;  reconcile  yourself  to 
our  deputies;  don't  expect  to  carry  on  the  government 
with   all   parties;    convince   the   people   that   the   grand 

1  To  what  this  instruction  alludes  we  have  not  been  able  further  to 
ascertain. 

2  Afterwards  the  site  of  Fort  Moore  on  the  Savannah,  near  where 
Augusta  now  is.     Not  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Savannah. 

3  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  381-384. 


238  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

council  has  power  by  the  constitutions  to  pass  upon  all 
bills  before  they  can  be  submitted  to  parliament."  ^ 

Notwithstanding  the  political  turmoil  which  had  con- 
tinued without  cessation  in  the  colony  from  its  commence- 
ment, its  population  was  steadily,  if  not  rapidly,  increas- 
ing. The  Huguenot  immigration  in  Craven  County  and 
other  settlers  in  Colleton  were  peopling  those  counties  to 
a  considerable  extent ;  still  Berkeley  was  by  far  the  most 
thickly  settled,  and  the  inhabitants  took  further  offence  at 
this  new  and,  as  they  regarded  it,  still  more  unjust  dis- 
proportion of  representation  in  the  Assembly  now  called 
by  Governor  Ludwell  under  his  instructions. 

Colleton  County  with  its  new  and  smaller  population 
had,  under  Governor  Morton  in  1683,  been  given  equal 
representation  with  Berkeley,  and  now  Craven  with 
still  fewer  inhabitants,  and  those  not  even  Englishmen, 
was  given  nearly  the  same.  This  created  a  new  ferment. 
"  Shall  the  Frenchmen,"  said  the  English  colonists,  "  who 
cannot  speak  our  language  make  our  laws  ?  "  The  flame 
of  national  animosity  was  kindled  against  those  whom 
they  had  welcomed  with  kindness,  and  whom  the  officers 
of  the  Proprietors  had  been  instructed  to  befriend.     Me- 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  160;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  131. 

"Goose  Creek  Men,"  a  paper  purporting  to  be  an  assessment  of  the 
Parish  of  St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  for  January,  1694,  is  given  by  Mrs. 
Poyas,  the  "Octogenarian  Lady,"  in  the  Olden  Time  in  Carolina,  p.  36. 
This  is  an  anachronism,  inasmuch  as  the  parish  was  not  established  until 
1704.  The  table  of  assessment,  however,  gives  a  list  of  the  taxpayers  on 
Goose  Creek,  i.e.  the  "  Goose  Creek  men,"  of  whom  the  Proprietors  were 
so  afraid,  from  which  we  take  the  following :  Thomas  Smith,  of  Back 
River ;  Edward  Hyrne  ;  Thomas  Smith,  son  of  Landgrave  ;  Colonel  James 
Moore,  Captain  George  Chicken,  Captain  Arthur  Middleton,  Captain  Ben- 
jamin Schenckingh,  Peter  St.  Julien,  Benjamin  Godin,  Mr.  Mazyck,  Hen- 
royda  Inglish,  and  Captain  John  Neve.  This  list,  however,  is  certainly 
not  complete,  for  no  mention  is  made  of  several  of  the  most  conspicuous 
of  the  planters  in  that  settlement,  i.e.  Robert  Gibbes,  Ralph  Izard,  etc. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  239 

morials  were  addressed  to  the  Governor  to  dissuade  him 
from  permitting  the  French  to  have  seats  in  the  Assembly. 
The  severities  of  the  alien  law  of  England  were  threat- 
ened against  them  and  their  children.  Their  marriages 
and  their  property  were  held  equally  without  the  respect 
and  protection  of  the  laws.^  Hewatt  states  that  not  a 
single  representative  was  allowed  from  Craven  in  the 
election  held  under  Governor  Ludwell's  call,^  but  this  is  a 
mistake ;  the  journals  show  six  members,  all  Huguenots, 
were  returned  and  took  their  seats.^ 

The  Parliament  thus  organized,  however,  was  not  more 
subservient  to  the  Proprietors  than  the  former  had  been. 
As  soon  as  the  new  Assembly  met  in  September,  an 
address  was  sent  to  Ludwell  requesting  "an  act  of  free 
and  general  indemnity  and  oblivion,  and  a  confirmation  of 
all  judicial  proceedings  in  the  late  government"  as  essen- 
tial for  the  prosperity  of  the  colony  and  the  efficiency  of 
any  law  that  might  be  made  for  the  good  of  the  people. 
The  necessity  for  some  such  measure  had  been  recognized 
by  the  Proprietors  in  their  instructions  to  the  Governor; 
but  while  offering  a  general  pardon,  they  had  excepted  not 
only  those  guilty  of  high  treason  and  murder,  but  had  also 
directed  proceedings  against  "  some  few  of  the  most  noto- 
rious and  obstinate  offenders  "  as  to  "  whom  the  proof  was 
plainest,"  which  was  understood  really  to  mean  that  all 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  176. 

2  Hewatt,  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  113. 

3  The  members  of  the  Assembly  were  as  follows :  From  Berkeley 
County :  Major  Benjamin  Waring,  James  Moore,  Esq.,  Ralph  Izard,  Esq., 
Mr.  John  Ladson,  Mr.  John  Powis,  Mr.  Jonathan  Amory,  Mr.  Joseph 
Pendarvis.  From  Colleton  County:  Robert  Gibbes,  Esq.,  William  Davis, 
Esq.,  James  Williams,  Esq.,  Mr.  Daniel  Courlis,  Mr.  James  Gilbertson, 
Mr.  Joseph  Ellicot,  Mr.  James  Stanyame.  From  Craven  County :  Alex- 
ander Thette  Chastaigner,  Esq.,  John  Boyd,  Esq.,  Paul  Bonneau,  Esq., 

Mons.  Rene  Ravenel,  Mons.  John  Gendron,  Mons. Lebas.     Commons 

Journal  (MSS.). 


240  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  leaders  against  whom  evidence  could  be  obtained  were 
to  be  indicted.  Ludwell  could  not  under  these  instruc- 
tions grant  the  general  pardon  asked  for;  nor  does  his 
reply,  observes  Rivers,  indicate  the  mildness  of  disposition 
generally  attributed  to  him.^  He  called  upon  the  Assem- 
bly, as  the  house  of  representatives  now  began  to  be 
called,  to  look  to  their  journals  and  to  judge  what  clem- 
ency could  be  demanded.  In  a  rambling  and  incoherent 
style  he  thus  addressed  the  Speaker :  — 

"  We  are  unwilling  Mr.  Speaker  to  believe  that  address  had  due 
and  mature  consideration  in  the  house,  being  unable  to  comprehend 
those  double  locks  and  bars  viz. :  indemnity  from  and  confirmation  of 
all  the  judicial  proceedings  that  past  in  the  last  government." 

In  the  same  confused  manner  he  went  on  to  say  that  he 
could  not  imagine  the  meaning  "of  the  two  fortifications" 
i.e.  indemnity  and  confirmation  — 

"  For  certainly  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  activist  or  cruelists  persons 
in  the  last  government,  neither  lock  nor  bar  will  be  needful;  they 
need  do  no  more  than  stand  in  the  open  street  with  the  gracious  con- 
cession in  their  hands,  which  being  shown,  must  like  Medusa's  head 
kill  all  the  opponents  that  behold  it.  And  how  far  then  an  act  of  in- 
demnity will  shroud  those  whose  properest  interest  it  will  be  to  seek 
it  by  this  fatal  turn  of  the  tables,  or  how  or  where  they  will  obtain  it 
we  know  not ;  but  do  guess  you  well  know  (your  last  demand  being 
granted)  it  must  be  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  the  eminentest 
sufferers  in  the  last  government  to  beg  it  to  secure  their  all  ready 
half-cut  throats  from  the  other  slash ;  for  our  part  we  cannot  possibly 
see  what  can  be  ascribed  to  us  (whose  own  throats  by  the  way  must 
be  exposed  among  the  rest)  but  by  a  mistaken  act  of  mercy  to  con- 
firm, may  heighten  all  the  cruelties  of  the  last  government !  Is  this 
to  be  the  way  to  establish  peace  and  safety  on  either  part.  Mr. 
Speaker  we  must  own  we  understand  it  not." 

The  Assembly  replied,  explaining  their  address,  a  mis- 
understanding  of   which  they  supposed   had  caused   his 
Honor's   "strange   style."     They  repeated  their  request. 
^Hi8t.  Sketches  ofSo.Ca.  (Rivers),  162. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  241 

Ludwell,  on  his  part,  offered  an  act  in  accordance  with 
the  instructions  he  had  received.  The  Assembly  would 
accept  this  only  with  alterations,  and  he  could  not  accede 
to  their  alterations,  but  proposed  that  they  should  accept 
the  indemnity  as  from  him  and  the  deputies  for  what  it 
was  worth,  and  prepare  on  their  part  a  representation  of 
their  grievances  to  the  Proprietors.  His  indemnity  was 
unanimously  declined ;  but  a  statement  of  their  grievances 
was  prepared  by  the  Assembly.  This  paper,  which  was 
signed  by  Jonathan  Amory,  Speaker,  presents  very 
clearly  the  issue  between  the  Proprietors  and  the  colo- 
nists.^ (1)  The  first  grievance  stated  was  in  regard  to 
the  form  of  conveyancing  of  land  —  all  the  Proprietors 
had  not  agreed  to  the  same  form,  and  the  latest  form,  i.e. 
that  by  indenture  instead  of  simple  patent,  was  not  satis- 
factory to  the  people.  (2)  The  Receiver  of  Rents  had 
not  been  commissioned  by  all  of  the  Proprietors,  so  there 
was  no  one  authorized  to  give  a  full  acquittance  and  dis- 
charge to  the  purchasers  and  tenants.  (3)  That  the 
offices  of  Sheriff  and  Judge  of  Pleas  were  lodged  in  one 
and  the  same  person.  (4)  That  although  by  the  charter 
the  power  of  erecting  courts  was  in  the  Proprietors,  yet 
the  courts  ought  to  be  regulated  by  laws  made  by  the 
assent  of  the  people.  (5)  That  the  public  officers  were 
allowed  to  take  much  greater  fees  than  were  allowed  by 
act  of  Parliament  in  England  for  the  same  and  like 
services.  (6)  That  the  representatives  or  delegates  of 
the  people  were  too  few  in  the  Assembly,  and  that  the 
people  were  not  allowed  to  determine  the  number  of  their 
delegates  according  to  the  King's  most  gracious  charter. 
(7)  They  objected  to  the  two  Palatine  courts  —  one  in 
England  and  one  in  Carolina.  They  complained  that  one 
made  void  what  the  other  enacted  —  thus  of  late  several 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  433-435. 


242  HtStORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

acts  of  the  Assembly  had  been  repealed  by  the  Palatine 
Court  in  England,  which  had  been  ratified  by  the  Palatine 
Court  in  Carolina.  That  their  Lordships'  deputies  in  Car- 
olina should  be  fully  empowered  to  give  their  assent  to 
laws  and  acts  by  the  people.  (8)  That  the  Palatine 
Court  in  Carolina  assumed  to  put  in  force  such  English 
laws  as  they  deemed  adapted  to  the  province ;  but  the 
Assembly  conceived  that  either  such  laws  were  valid  of 
their  own  force,  or  could  only  be  made  so  by  an  act  of 
Assembly.  (9)  That  inferior  courts  had  taken  upon 
themselves  to  adjudge  and  determine  the  power  of  Assem- 
bly or  the  validity  of  acts  made  by  them  and  of  matters 
and  things  relating  to  the  House  of  Commons.  This  the 
Assembly  conceived  to  be  without  the  jurisdiction  of  such 
courts;  and  only  inquirable  into  and  determinable  by  the 
next  succeeding  General  Assembly.  (10)  The  setting  up 
of  martial  law  (except  in  cases  of  rebellion,  tumult,  sedition, 
or  invasion)  they  conceived  not  warranted  by  the  King's 
charter.  (11)  They  objected  to  the  taking  of  bonds  or 
writings  obligatory  not  authorized  by  law.  (12)  They 
represented  the  want  of  a  competent  number  of  commoners 
to  represent  them  in  Council.  (13)  They  complained  of 
the  refusal  of  an  act  of  indemnity  and  confirmation  till 
their  Lordships'  pleasure  should  be  known.  (14)  The 
last  clause  of  this  presentment,  which  was  added  in  Sep- 
tember, 1693,  complains  of  a  grievance  which  was  to  out- 
last the  Proprietary,  and  to  continue  under  the  Royal 
Government  until  that  too  was  overthrown.  This  was  the 
requirement  that  no  important  measure  was  allowed  to  be 
put  in  force  until  their  Lordships'  consent  could  be  ob- 
tained from  England,  which  could  never  be  in  less  than  a 
year,  and  which  in  fact  often  delayed  measures  for  two 
years ;  so  that  it  sometimes  happened  that  the  occasion  or 
reason  for  the  enactments  had  passed  before  they  were 
acted  upon  in  England. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  243 

This  paper  is  a  most  interesting  one,  presenting  as  it 
does  probably  the  first  instance  of  a  petition,  or  Bill  of 
Rights,  drawn  in  America.  It  is  the  more  so,  too,  because 
it  is  one  based  upon  rights  claimed  under  a  written  con- 
stitution. It  is  a  presentation  of  the  rights  claimed  by  the 
people  under  the  letter  of  the  charter  of  the  province. 

The  objections  presented  by  it  to  the  form  of  convey- 
ances presented  by  the  Proprietors ;  to  the  want  of  proper 
authority  in  the  Receiver  of  Rents ;  to  the  improper  exac- 
tion of  fees  by  public  officers ;  to  the  requirement  of  bonds 
not  authorized  by  law, —  were  matters  which,  though  of  no 
small  importance  to  the  people,  were,  nevertheless,  in  the 
nature  of  temporary  inconveniences,  abuses  rather  of  the 
law  itself  than  of  its  authority.  The  vesting  in  the  same 
persons  of  the  judicial  and  executive  functions  of  Judge 
and  Sheriff,  though  doubtless  most  objectionable,  was  still 
more  a  matter  of  convenience  than  of  constitutional  right, 
the  remedy  for  which  properly  lay  in  the  sound  judgment 
of  the  lawmaking  power  wherever  that  was  reposed. 
The  demand  for  indemnity  for  acts  done  under  Sothell's 
administration,  though  just  and  reasonable,  was  a  matter 
of  personal  and  temporary  character.  But  the  other  com- 
plaints were  fundamental  and  involved  the  prerogatives  of 
the  Proprietors  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  people  on  the  other.  These  objections 
extended  not  only  to  what  the  Proprietors  prescribed  by 
their  constitutions  and  instructions ;  but  to  their  right  to 
make  any  such  prescription  without  the  assent  of  the  peo- 
ple. It  was  a  far-reaching  demand  which  the  Assembly 
made  when  it  claimed  that  though  by  the  charter  the  Pro- 
prietors were  authorized  to  erect  courts,  yet  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  courts  and  the  laws  regulating  them  could  only 
be  made  with  the  assent  of  the  people.  The  power  to 
regulate  and  control  the  courts  is  the  power  to  prescribe 


244  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  law.  For  of  what  use  was  the  provision  of  the  charter 
insuring  to  the  people  that  no  laws  could  be  made  without 
their  assent  and  approbation,  if  the  Proprietors  could  with- 
out such  assent  set  up  courts  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of 
laws  and  to  construe  them  ?  So,  too,  they  denied  the  right 
of  the  Proprietors  to  prescribe  the  number  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  without  consultation  with  them. 
They  objected  to  the  two  Palatine  courts,  one  in  Eng- 
land and  one  in  America.  The  charter  provided  for 
a- government  of  the  province  in  America.  It  did  not 
provide  for  one  in  England.  The  Assembly  well  argued 
that  if  the  laws  of  England  were  applicable  to  the  prov- 
ince, they  were  so  propria  vigors  and  needed  not  the 
sanction  of  the  Palatine  Court ;  but  if  they  were  not  ap- 
plicable by  their  own  inherent  force,  they  could  only  be 
made  so  by  the  act  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  that  among  the  grievances  of  which  the  Assembly 
complain  is  that  inferior  courts  had  taken  upon  them- 
selves to  adjudge  and  determine  the  power  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  of  the  validity  of  acts  made  by  them.  So  it 
appears  that  at  this  early  day  the  courts  of  Carolina  were 
assuming  to  pass  upon  the  constitutionality  of  laws. 
They  were,  it  is  true,  now  doing  so  in  the  interest  of  the 
Proprietors  as  against  that  of  the  people  ;  but  whatever 
its  present  purpose  and  inspiration,  it  was  an  important 
step  taken,  though  unconsciously,  in  the  direction  of  lib- 
erty, when  courts  began  to  inquire  into  the  authority  of 
the  laws  themselves.  Because,  however  its  immediate  pur- 
pose was  to  condemn  the  Assembly  which  refused  to  act 
with  Colleton,  the  people  at  that  time  failed  to  recognize 
the  advantage  which  would  accrue  to  them  by  such  a  pre- 
cedent.i     The  Assembly  well  protested  against  the  great 

1  The  questions  as  to  the  origin  of  the  judicial  power  exercised  by  the 
courts  of  the  United  States  —  State  and  Federal  —  to  declare  void  uncon- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  245 

inconvenience  and  wrong  of  postponing  the  enactment  of 
measures  until  leave  could  be  obtained  from  England. 
We  shall  see  the  same  cause  operating  most  disastrously 
under  the  Royal  Government,  preventing  the  establish- 
ment of  courts  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  increasing 
population. 

-'  It  happened  that  while  the  Assembly  was  engaged  in 
preparing  this  paper  in  Carolina,  the  Proprietors  were  con- 
sidering the  same  subject  in  England,  but  with  no  purpose 
to  grant  the  desired  relief.  On  the  8th  of  November,  1692, 
they  write  to  Ludwell  withdrawing  the  power  they  had 
the  year  before  given  him  to  allow  such  legislation  as  might 
be  thought  necessary  for  the  better  government  of  the 
province,  to  continue  in  force  for  two  years  with  the  assent 
of  himself  and  of  the  deputies.  They  repeal  and  make 
void  all  changes  in  the  laws  relating  to  the  courts,  magis- 
trates, sheriffs,  juries,  or  elections  made  under  Sothell,  and 
direct  that  all  bills  relating  to  such  mattei'S  and  consented 
to  by  the  Governor  and  deputies  should  be  transmitted  to 
them,  to  be  considered  and  passed  upon  in  England  before 

stitutional  acts  of  the  legislature,  and  as  to  the  first  instances  in  which 
it  was  exercised,  have  of  late  given  rise  to  much  discussion.  The  earliest 
instances  hitherto  adduced  having  been  one  by  a  court  in  Rhode  Island, 
which  held  the  "forcing  act"  unconstitutional  in  1786;  and  one  by  a 
court  in  North  Carolina,  which  set  aside  an  act  affecting  trials  by  jury  in 
1787,  and  the  famous  case  of  Marhury  v.  Madison,  Sup.  Ct.  U.  S.,  in  1803. 
See  "  Origin  and  Scope  of  the  American  Doctrine  of  Constitutional  Law," 
Professor  Thayer,  Harvard  Laio  Bevieio,  October,  1893;  "An  Essay  on 
Judicial  Power  and  Unconstitutional  Legislation,"  Brinton  Coxe,  Am. 
Law  Beview,  March  and  April,  1885 ;  McMaster's  Hist,  of  the  People 
of  the  U.  S.,  vol.  I,  337-339 ;  The  Nation,  vol.  LVII,  Nos*  1474,  1475, 
1477,  1484,  1506.  But  here  we  find  the  colonists  in  South  Carolina 
objecting  to  the  exercise  of  such  a  power  by  inferior  courts  under  the 
Proprietary  Government  a  hundred  years  before.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  we  have  no  record  of  these  courts,  nor  do  we  even  know  how  they 
were  constituted  and  who  presided  in  them.  Indeed,  we  have  no  record 
that  there  was  a  professional  lawyer  in  the  colony  at  the  time. 


246  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

published  as  law  in  Carolina.^  They,  however,  sent  out 
under  their  "  great  seal "  a  general  pardon  to  the  people 
of  Carolina  (James  Moore  and  Robert  Daniel  being  ex- 
cepted) for  all  crimes  and  offences  "  committed  prior  to 
the  publication  of  Lud well's  commission  in  hopes,  that  in 
time  to  come  it  may  beget  a  firm  resolution  to  become 
strict  observers  of  the  laws."  Unhappily,  there  was  an 
unaccountable  delay  in  announcing  this  pardon  to  the 
people.2 

The  issues  were  thus  becoming  more  and  more  sharply 
defined  between  the  Proprietors  and  the  colonists ;  and 
in  the  struggle  the  colonists  were  steadily  gaining.  They 
had  overthrown  and  banished  one  Governor  —  Colleton. 
They  had  compelled  the  Proprietors  to  recognize  Sothell 
and  to  allow  his  administration,  thus  setting  aside  Smith, 
whom  the  Proprietors  had  nominated  as  Governor,  and 
had  maintained  Sothell  until  his  rapacity  and  oppression 
had  turned  them  against  him.  They  were  now  managing 
Ludwell,  notwithstanding  his  instructions  from  their  Lord- 
ships. 

Though  during  the  next  thirteen  years  we  shall  find 
further  attempts  to  impose  the  Fundamental  Constitutions 
upon  the  people,  the  Proprietors  now  began  to  recognize 
that  they  could  never  be  enforced,  and  this  they  secretly 
admitted  to  Ludwell.  They  privately  wrote  to  him  that 
as  Mathews,  who  claimed  to  be  empowered  by  the  people, 
assured  them  that  they  would  not  own  those  laws,  they 
had  made  his  instructions  as  Governor  '•^suitable  to  our 
charter.''  A  still  greater  concession  was  rendered  neces- 
sary when  Ludwell's  Parliament  appointed  a  committee 
to  frame  a  "system  of  government."     This,  indeed,  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  435,  436. 
^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  163;  Ooll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  130. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY   GOVERI^MENT  247 

Proprietors  appear  to  have  accepted  as  a  formal  rejection 
of  the  Constitutions  and  wrote  to  Ludwell  that  as  the 
people  had  rejected  "  the  excellent  system  of  Locke,"  they 
had  therefore  "thought  it  best  both  for  them  and  for  us 
to  govern  by  all  the  power  of  the  charter,  and  will  part 
with  no  power  till  the  people  are  disposed  to  be  more 
orderly."  This  reluctance  and  reservation,  however,  were 
expressed  to  Ludwell  alone,  while  publicly  it  was  an- 
nounced, "  that  as  the  people  have  declared  they  would 
rather  be  governed  by  the  powers  granted  by  the  charters 
without  regard  to  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  it  will  be 
for  the  quiet  and  the  protection  of  the  well  disposed  to 
grant  their  requests."  ^ 

In  the  meanwhile  the  Parliament,  i.e.  the  Governor,  Coun- 
cil, and  Assembly,  in  October,  1692,  had  passed  several 
important  measures.  Three  of  these  related  to  the  courts. 
One  empowered  magistrates,  justices,  and  others  to  exe- 
cute the  habeas  corpus  act  of  Charles  II ;  another  pro- 
vided for  the  drawing  of  jurymen  in  all  causes,  civil  and 
criminal ;  and  another  for  the  trial  of  small  and  mean 
causes.  Disregarding  the  provisions  of  the  Fundamental 
Constitutions  as  to  the  qualification  of  voters  for  members 
of  the  Assembly,  an  act  was  passed  giving  the  privilege  of 
voting  to  any  person  otherwise  qualified  who  was  worth 
ten  pounds,  without  reference  to  the  time  of  his  residence 
in  the  colony. 

In  regard  to  the  habeas  corpus  acts,  the  Proprietors 
assumed  that  all  laws  of  England  applied  to  the  colonies, 
and  held  that  it  was  not  necessary,  therefore,  to  reenact 
that  famous  statute  in  their  provinces.  They  disallowed 
the  act  purporting  to  do  so.  The  doctrine  that  the  laws 
of  England  were  not  of  force  in  the  colony  they  declared 
erroneous.  "  By  those  gentlemen's  permission  that  so  say," 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  164. 


248  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH  CAROLINA 

wrote  the  Proprietors,  "  it  is  expressed  in  our  grants  from 
the  crown  that  the  inhabitants  of  Carolina  shall  be  of  the 
King's  allegiance ;  which  makes  them  subject  to  the  laws 
of  England."  ^  But  the  subject  was  not  disposed  of  so 
easily.  It  was  one  full  of  difficulty.  The  question  had 
been  one  of  great  doubt,  and  puzzled  the  lawyers  of 
England. 

The  theory  of  the  law  was  that  where  an  uninhabited 
country  was  discovered  and  planted  by  English  subjects, 
all  laws  in  force  at  home  became  at  once  applicable ;  but 
in  the  case  of  an  inhabited  country  conquered,  not  until 
declared  so  by  the  conqueror.^  The  trouble  was  to  deter- 
mine as  to  which  category  the  English  dominions  in 
America  belonged.  Hilton,  Sayle,  and  Sandford  had,  it 
is  true,  each  sailed  upon  voyages  of  "discovery";  but  the 
country  had  been  discovered  long  before,  and,  indeed,  par- 
tial attempts  had  been  made  to  settle  it.  The  Spaniards 
claimed  Carolina  as  part  of  Florida,  upon  which  they  had 
an  established  settlement  at  St.  Augustine.  Great  Britain 
could  scarcely  claim,  therefore,  by  virtue  of  discovery. 
Could  she  do  so  as  of  conquest?  And  if  so,  conquest 
of  whom  —  Spaniards  or  Indians  ?  Surely  not  of  the 
Spaniards,  for  peace  nominally  reigned  at  the  time  of  the 
grant  of  charter  by  King  Charles  II.     Could  she  claim 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  161. 

'^  Blankard  v.  Galdy,  Salkeld,  411 ;  Bex  v.  Vaughn,  Burrows'' s  Re- 
ports, vol.  IV,  2500.  This  most  important  and  delicate  question  was  to 
remain  a  subject  of  constant  controversy,  not  only  in  the  American  colo- 
nies, in  the  Islands,  and  on  the  Continent,  but  in  Ireland  as  well.  It  lay 
at  the  root  of  the  differences  between  American  colonies  and  the  mother 
country  in  regard  to  the  navigation  laws  and  the  stamp  acts,  and  the 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  found  Flood  and  Grattan 
engaged  in  the  Irish  Parliament  in  the  old  discussion  as  to  the  effect  and 
validity  of  Poyning's  law,  which  rendered  Ireland  amenable  to  English 
statutes.  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  (Lecky),  vol.  IV,  466-570  j 
Leaders  of  Public  Opinion  in  Ireland  (Lecky),  85. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY    GOVERNMENT  249 

the  territory  as  of  conquest  from  the  Indians  ?  The  Pro- 
prietors were  pretending,  at  least,  to  purchase  the  lands 
from  them. 

The  question  had  been  raised  and  discussed  in  the  last 
year  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  but  had  not  been  definitely 
decided.^  It  was,  therefore,  still  an  open  one  when  so 
dogmatically  decided  by  the  Proprietors ;  and  from  their 
position  they  were  obliged  ultimately  to  recede  when,  in 
1712,  under  the  administration  of  Craven,  they  allowed 
and  approved  the  act  adopting  the  common  law  and  such 
statutes  of  England  as  were  deemed  applicable  to  the 
condition  of  the  province.  Indeed,  among  others,  they 
sanctioned  the  adoption  by  the  Assembly  of  South  Caro- 
lina of  the  very  act  they  now  so  wisely  reproved  the 
colonists  for  passing.^  And  it  was  well  that  they  did  so, 
for  some  years  after,  in  a  case  coming  from  Jamaica,  Lord 
Mansfield  held  that  no  act  of  Parliament  made  after  a 
colony  is  planted  is  construed  to  extend  to  it  without 
express  words  showing  the  intention  of  the  legislature  to 
be  that  it  should.^  The  habeas  corpus  act  of  Charles  II, 
Shaftesbury's  greatest  work,  by  which  personal  liberty  has 
been  more  effectually  guarded  in  England  and  America 
than  it  has  ever  been  in  any  other  country  in  the  world, 
was  not  enacted  until  thirteen  years  after  the  second 
charter  of  Carolina. 

The  act  providing  for  the  drawing  of  juries  which  the 
Proprietors  disallowed  is  lost.  It  has  been  supposed  that 
it  was  the  origin  of  the  admirable  jury  system  which  has 
ever  since  substantially  prevailed  in  South  Carolina,  if  not 

1  Daws  V.  Sir  Paul  Pindar^  Modern  Beports,  vol.  II,  45. 

2  ^eepost,  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  401. 

3  Rex  v.-  Vaughn^  Burroughs'' s  Bepoi^ts,  vol.  IV,  2500 ;  Blackstone's 
Com.  (Sharswood's  ed.),  vol.  I,  108,  note;  Jacob's  Law  Dictionary., 
title  "Plantation." 


250  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

from  this  precise  time,  from  some  very  near  period.^  The  first 
extant  act  upon  the  subject  is  that  of  1731 ;  ^  but  this  act 
does  not  purport  to  originate  the  system.  It  is  entitled 
an  act  '•'•  confirming  and  establishing  the  ancient  and  ap- 
proved method  of  drawing  juries  by  ballot.^''  The  plan  was 
certainly,  therefore,  in  existence  prior  to  1731.  It  has 
been  ascribed  to  Thomas  Smith,  the  Landgrave.^  By  this 
system  jurors  were  not  selected  by  the  sheriff,  as  is  usu- 
ally done  elsewhere,  but  the  names  of  all  the  freemen  in 
the  province  having  been  taken  on  small  pieces  of  parch- 
ment of  equal  size,  they  were  put  into  a  ballot  box  and 
shaken  so  as  to  be  thoroughly  mixed ;  whereupon  at  every 
court  before  it  rose  twenty-four  names  were  drawn  from 
the  box  by  a  boy  under  ten  years  of  age ;  and  from  these 
names,  put  into  another  box,  twelve  names  were  drawn  by 
another  boy  under  the  same  age.  The  persons  whose  names 
were  so  drawn  were  summoned  to  appear  at  the  next  term 
of  the  court.  If  any  were  challenged,  the  boy  continued 
drawing  until  the  jury  was  full.  By  this  system,  the  pack- 
ing of  juries  by  corrupt  sheriffs  was  rendered  well-nigh 
impossible.  The  system  has  been  modified  from  time  to 
time  as  to  the  qualification  of  jurors  and  as  to  the  manner 
of  forming  the  lists ;  sometimes  it  has  been  by  the  court, 
sometimes  by  the  legislature,  sometimes  by  specified 
officers  or  jury  commissioners,  but  in  its  main  features 
it  has  been  preserved  until  this  day. 

The  act  of  l¥92,  however,  is  not  to  be  found,  and  its 
terms  can  only  be  known  from  the  reasons  assigned  by  the 
Proprietors  for  disallowing  it;  and  from  these  it  can 
scarcely  be  believed   that  the   act   disallowed   contained 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  101,  note.  He  watt  speaks  of  the 
system  as  according  to  an  article  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  (vol.  I, 
114),  but  in  this  he  is  mistaken.    There  is  no  such  provision  in  those  laws. 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  274. 

'^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  swpra. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  251 

such  excellent  provisions ;  indeed,  they  strongly  imply 
that,  on  the  contrary,  the  sherilBf,  under  its  terms,  could 
name  as  jurors  what  persons  he  chose.  One  of  the  ob- 
jections to  the  acts  was  that  it  required  the  sheriff  of  each 
county  to  divide  all  the  persons  of  his  county  into  sets  of 
twelve,  and  to  draw  two  papers  of  twelve  names  each  for 
jurymen  for  the  next  court.^  This  plan  they  thought  un- 
reasonable and  dangerous,  as  the  sheriffs  might  so  "  divide 
the  twelve  for  each  paper  that  there  might  be  in  every 
paper  some  notorious  favorers  of  pyrates^^''  who  could  pre- 
vent their  punishment.     They  disallowed  the  act.^ 

The  Proprietors  also  disapproved  the  act  regulating  elec- 
tions ;  not  because  of  its  violation  of  the  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions,—  those  they,  at  least  for  the  present,  tacitly 
abandoned, — but  because  they  alleged  it  was  so  loosely 
drawn  that  any  one  might  be  admitted  to  vote  for  members 
of  the  Assembly  who  was  worth  ten  pounds,  regardless  of 
the  length  of  his  residence  in  the  province ;  indeed,  it  was 
so  loose,  they  said,  "  that  all  the  pyrates  that  were  in  the 
ship  that  had  been  plundering  the  Red  Sea  had  been 
qualified  to  vote  for  representatives  in  Carolina."^ 

These  allusions  by  the  Proprietors  to  pirates  have  been 
made  the  foundation  of  renewed  charges  against  the  colo- 
nists of  Carolina  for  countenancing  these  enemies  of  the 
human  race,  if  not  of  actual  complicity  with  them.  Hewatt 
charges  that  the  gentleness  of  the  government  towards 
them  and  the  civility  with  which  they  were  treated  were 
evidences  of  the  licentious  spirit  which  prevailed  in  the 
province ;  that,  by  their  money  and  freedom  of  intercourse 
with  the  people,  the  pirates  so  ingratiated  themselves  into 
public  favor  that  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  bring  them  to 
trial,  and  dangerous  to  punish   them  as   they  deserved. 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  436. 

2  /6ij.  3  jiici^^  437. 


252  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

The  courts  of  law,  he  states,  became  the  scene  of  alterca- 
tion and  confusion ;  that  bold  and  seditious  speeches  were 
made  from  the  bar  in  contempt  of  the  Proprietors  and  their 
government;  that,  as  no  pardons  could  be  obtained,  the 
habeas  corpus  act  was  passed,  and  that  hence  it  hap- 
pened that  several  of  the  pirates  escaped,  took  up  their 
residence  in  the  colony,  and  purchased  lands ;  and  that 
finally  the  Proprietors  granted  an  act  of  indemnity  to  all 
except  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  plundering  the 
Great  Mogul,  most  of  whom  found  means  of  making  their 
escape  out  of  the  country.^  Ramsay,  who,  as  usual,  follows 
Hewatt  without  further  investigation,  amplifies  the  charge. 
"  The  courts  of  law  became,"  he  says,  "  the  scene  of  alter- 
cation and  confusion.  The  gold  and  silver  of  pirates  en- 
listed in  their  behalf  the  eloquence  of  the  first  gentlemen 
of  the  bar,  too  many  of  whom  held  that  every  advantage, 
though  at  the  expense  of  honor,  justice,  public  good,  and 
even  truth,  should  be  taken  in  favor  of  their  clients.  Hence 
it  happened  that  several  of  the  pirates  escaped,  purchased 
lands,  and  took  up  their  residence  in  the  colony."  ^  No 
foundation  whatsoever  can  be  found  in  the  records  of  the 
time,  further  than  the  brief  allusions  which  we  have  quoted, 
for  these  extraordinary  charges.  They  are  gratuitous  and 
bear  on  their  face  their  own  refutation.  It  is  not  known 
that  there  was  a  single  lawyer  in  the  province  at  this  time, 
and  not  probable  that  there  could  have  been  one  who, 
in  these  stirring  times  in  this  small  community,  is  not 
even  mentioned.  There  were,  therefore,  no  "first  gentle- 
men of  the  bar  "  to  degrade  themselves  as  Ramsay  charges. 
But  the  absurdity  of  the  charge  will  more  fully  be  appre- 
ciated when  we  remind  the  reader  that  by  the  law  of  Eng- 
land at  that  time,  at  the  time  when  Hewatt  wrote,  at  the 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  116-117. 

2  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  200. 


UNDER   THE  PROPKIETARY  GOVERNMENT  253 

time  when  Ramsay  wrote,  and  for  years  after  counsel  were 
not  allowed  the  accused  in  criminal  trials.  It  was  one  of 
the  anomalies  of  the  English  law  against  which  Sir  William 
Blackstone  protested  (1765),^  and  which  remained  un- 
remedied until  1836.2  The  charter  had  given  the  Proprie- 
tors power  to  make  war  upon  "pirates  and  robbers"  as 
public  enemies  ;  this  did  not  confer  upon  them  jurisdiction 
of  piracies  generally.  He  watt,  the  historian,  has  doubtless 
confused  the  incidents  in  regard  to  the  pardon  and  indem- 
nity demanded  by  the  people  growing  out  of  Colleton  and 
Sothell's  administrations  with  those  relating  to  the  pirates. 
The  charges  against  the  colonists  of  Carolina  in  this  mat- 
ter are  no  more  consistent  than  just.  They  are  accused  on 
the  one  hand  of  enacting  a  jury  law,  by  the  provisions  of 
which  pirates  might  escape  conviction ;  and  on  the  other 
of  bringing  over  the  English  habeas  corpus  act  to  rescue 
any  that  the  juries  might  convict,  and  this  because  the 
Governor  would  not  pardon  except  so  far  as  authorized  by 
the  Proprietors.^  This  accusation  involves  the  Proprietoi-s 
in  England  as  much  as  it  does  the  colonists  in  Carolina ; 
for  it  implies  that  the  judges  and  magistrates  appointed  by 
the  Proprietors  would  protect  the  pirates  if  the  juries  did 
not,  and  discharge  them  on  habeas  corpus.  The  truth  is, 
that  neither  the  Proprietoi-s  nor  their  Governor  had  any 
jurisdiction  over  piracy  on  the  high  seas,  and  no  power  to 
discharge  or  pardon.  Piracy  is  an  offence  against  the  law 
of  nations,  and  by  the  common  law  of  England,  when  com- 
mitted by  a  subject,  a  species  of  treason,  and  until  the 
Statute  28  Henry  VIII  was  cognizable  only  in  the  Courts 
of  Admiralty.*     The  Statute  of  Henry  VIII  had  not  yet 

1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  IV,  355. 

2  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  title  "  Criminal  Law,"  Edmund  Robertson. 
8  He  watt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  116. 

*  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  IV,  71. 


254  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

been  made  of  force  in  the  province.  We  shall  see  in  a 
controversy  over  the  succession  to  Governor  Blake,  in  1700, 
that  it  was  maintained  that  the  charter  did  not  empower 
any  officer  of  the  Proprietors  to  try  persons  for  acts  com- 
mitted out  of  their  dominion,  and  that  hence  a  Royal  com- 
mission was  necessary  to  a  judge  in  admiralty.^  The 
government  in  England  had,  therefore,  required  the  pas- 
sage of  acts  in  the  colonies  providing  commissions  in  admi- 
ralty ;  and  his  Majesty  on  the  22d  of  January,  1687,  had 
issued  his  proclamation  of  pardon  to  all  who  would  come 
in  and  accept  its  terms.^  It  was  not,  therefore,  the  Pro- 
prietors who  granted  the  indemnity  to  these  people,  as 
Hewatt  asserts,  but  King  James.  The  government  in 
England  had  required  the  passage  of  acts  providing  com- 
missions in  admiralty,  but  as  yet  it  had  appointed  no  Vice 
Admiral  or  prosecuting  officer. 

Piracy,  it  is  true,  by  international  law  is  an  offence 
against  all  nations  and  punishable  by  all ;  and  pirates  may 
be  pursued  in  any  country  where  they  may  be  found  with- 
out regard  to  the  question  on  whom  or  where  the  piratical 
offence  has  been  committed.^  This  we  shall  see  to  be  the 
law  announced  by  Chief  Justice  Trott  in  the  famous  case 
of  Stede  Bonnet  in  1718,  in  a  charge  which  is  quoted  by 
law  writers  as  correctly  laying  down  the  rule.*  But  sup- 
posing the  courts  of  Carolina  common  law  and  admiralty 
to  have  been  fully  organized,  could  this  feeble  colony, 
struggling  yet  for  its  own  existence,  have  been  expected 
to  take  upon  itself  the  vindication  of  the  law  of  nations 
because  pirates  of  the  Red  Sea  happened  to  be  shipwrecked 
on  the  coast  of  the  province  ?     The  criticism  of  the  con- 

1  See  post. 

'i  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.  (MSS.)- 

8  Kent's  Com.  (12th  ed.),  vol.  IV,  186. 

*  Phillimore  on  International  La\o,  CCCLVI. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  255 

duct  of  the  Carolinians  in  this  matter,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, relates  to  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  colony ;  there 
is  no  question  of  the  vigor  of  their  efforts  against  the 
pirates  after  that  time.  The  colonists  of  Carolina  have 
been  held  by  historians  to  an  accountability  in  the  matter 
altogether  unwarranted  by  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  stood.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  jury 
law  and  habeas  corpus  act  were  at  all  connected  with  that 
subject. 

As  before  observed,  it  was  well  known  that  the  whole 
southern  coast  of  America  and  the  West  India  Islands 
were  infested  by  pirates  before  any  settlement  was 
attempted  in  Carolina.  The  charters  of  the  province  refer 
to  pirates  and  Indians  as  the  enemies  in  particular  with 
whom  the  colonists  would  have  to  contend.  The  relation 
of  the  early  settlers  was  the  same  to  one  as  to  the  other. 
They  looked  with  dread  upon  both,  and  no  doubt  met  the 
one  and  the  other  alike  with  conciliation  or  resistance  as 
their  necessities  demanded  or  their  circumstances  war- 
ranted. It  was  not  until  1687  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment itself  made  any  practical  effort  for  the  suppression 
of  piracy.  During  the  period  of  open  war  between  Eng- 
land and  Spain  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  had  been 
freely  issued,  nor  was  much  inquiry  made  to  ascertain 
whether  the  buccaneers  and  privateers  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  obtain  the  authority  of  such  commissions. 
Charles  II,  upon  his  restoration,  ordered  that  every  encour- 
agement and  protection  should  be  given  these  adventurers ; 
nor  did  his  Majesty  disdain  himself  to  become  a  partner  in 
the  buccaneering  business.  One  of  the  causes  of  the 
difference  which  existed  between  Clarendon  and  Lord 
Ashley,  two  of  the  Proprietors  of  Carolina,  arose  out  of 
this  matter.  Clarendon  was  opposed  to  the  employment 
of  privateers.     Once   they   were   countenanced,  he   said, 


256  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

they  brought  unavoidable  scandal  and  a  curse  upon 
the  justest  war.  "  A  sail !  A  sail  I  "  he  declared,  "  is  the 
word  with  them.  Friend  and  Foe  is  the  same.  They 
possess  all  they  can  master,  and  run  with  it  to  any  ob- 
scure place  where  they  can  sell  it,  and  never  attend  the 
ceremony  of  an  adjudication."  But  Ashley,  on  the  other 
hand,  having  secured  the  appointment  of.  Treasurer  of  Prize 
Money,  encouraged  his  Majesty  in  their  maintenance.^ 
Once  the  taste  for  such  a  life  had  been  acquired  and  the 
profits  of  it  experienced,  it  required  more  than  a  formal 
declaration  of  peace  to  dissolve  these  roving  bands  and 
put  an  end  to  their  plunder.  It  is,  indeed,  related  that 
King  Charles  himself  continued  to  exact  and  receive  a 
share  of  the  booty  even  after  he  had  publicly  issued  or- 
ders for  the  suppression  of  this  species  of  hostility.  As 
before  mentioned,  Henry  Morgan,  the  most  famous  of 
the  buccaneers,  was  knighted  by  his  Majesty  and  made 
Deputy  Governor  of  Jamaica,  doubtless  in  a  measure  from 
the  good  understanding  that  prevailed  between  the  King 
and  himself  in  their  copartnership.^  But  little  attention 
was  paid,  therefore,  to  his  Majesty's  orders  when,  during 
the  nominal  peace  between  Spain  and  England,  he  found 
it  to  his  interest  to  avow  his  purpose  by  putting  an  end  to 
piracy.  Upon  the  accession  of  James,  however,  a  more 
serious  effort  was  made  to  this  end.  In  August,  1687,  a 
small  fleet  was  dispatched  under  Sir  Robert  Holmes  with 
a  commission  "  for  suppressing  pirates  in  the  West  Indies."  ^ 
A  copy  of  this  commission  was  sent  to  the  Proprietors, 
with  instructions  for  their  cooperation.  Pirates  and  sea- 
rovers  coming  unto  any  of  the  ports  of  the  province  were 

1  Life  of  Clarendon,  Oxford,  MDCCLIX,  242. 

2  Bryan  Edwards's  Hist.  West  Indies^  vol.  I,  169. 

3  Chalmers's  Pol.  Ann. ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  319 ;  Hist.  Sketches 
of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  147. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  257 

to  be  seized  and  imprisoned,  and  their  ships'  goods  and 
plunder  were  to  be  taken  and  kept  in  custody  until  his 
Majesty's  Royal  pleasure  should  be  known.  These  in- 
structions the  Proprietors  at  once  forwarded  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  washed  their  hands  of  all  further  responsibility. 
Sir  Robert  Holmes's  commission,  it  may  be  observed  in  pass- 
ing, granted  him  for  three  yeare  all  the  goods  and  chattels 
taken  by  him  from  pirates  or  privateers,^  rendering  his 
service  one  scarcely  less  of  plunder  than  that  of  the 
pirates  themselves.  Together  also  with  the  instructions 
for  the  suppression  of  piracy  and  copies  of  Sir  Robert 
Holmes's  commission,  there  was  sent  a  notice  that  his 
Majesty  had  learned  a  wreck  had  been  discovered  near 
the  coast  of  Hispaniola,  from  which  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  silver  and  other  treasures  had  been  taken  and 
carried  into  divers  parts  of  his  dominions  in  America,  and 
warning  the  colonists  not,  indeed,  to  leave  the  wreck 
and  its  treasures  to  its  owners,  but  that  the  King 
claimed  one  full  moiety  of  all  treasure  and  riches  taken 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  as  being  by  the  ancient  ordi- 
nances of  admiralty  due  to  his  Majesty.  Sir  Robert  was 
to  have  all  the  treasure  he  could  capture  from  the  pirate, 
and  the  King  was  to  have  his  full  share  of  all  that  could 
be  found  in  wrecks.  Under  Sir  Robert's  commission  his 
interest  was  certainly  not  to  protect  commerce  and  the 
colonies  from  the  pirates,  but  rather  to  let  the  pirates  get 
all  the  treasure  they  could,  and  then  to  retake  the 
treasure  from  them  and  appropriate  it  to  himself. 

Just  what  assistance  the  Carolinians  gave  Holmes,  ob- 
serves a  writer  upon  this  subject,  is  not  known.^  But  a 
more  pertinent  historical  inquiry,  perhaps,  will  be :  what 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  120. 
.  2  s.  C.  Hughson,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  12th  Series,  V,  VI, 
VII,  26. 

s 


^ 


258  HISTOBY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLIl^A 

assistance  did  Sir  Robert  give  to  the  Carolinians?  The 
Proprietors  extended  to  them  the  King's  orders  to  seize 
all  pirates  who  should  enter  their  ports.  But  how  was 
this  to  be  done  ?  Pirates  are  men  of  war ;  armed  men, 
manning  armed  vessels.  The  scourge  had  been  that,  by 
means  of  their  arms,  they  could  descend  upon  and  plunder 
not  only  merchant  vessels  but  small  peaceable  communi- 
ties. Thus  it  was  that  Morgan  had  swept  down  upon  and 
plundered  Porto  Bello  and  Panama,  and  carried  off  large 
treasures  from  them.  Again  we  ask,  were  the  Carolinians, 
surrounded  as  they  were  by  hostile  Indians,  in  danger  of 
Spanish  invasion,  now  also  threatened  by  the  French  on 
the  Mississippi,  governed  by  a  feeble  board  in  England, 
who,  while  unable  to  afford  them  protection  from  any  of 
these  dangers,  three  thousand  miles  away,  were  harassing 
them  in  their  government  —  were  the  Carolinians,  in  a  state 
of  civil  turmoil,  weakness,  and  danger,  to  incur  the  ani- 
mosity of  new  enemies  and  to  invite  the  special  attention 
of  the  pirates  whom  the  British  fleet  under  Holmes  could 
not  or  would  not  suppress  ?  But  suppose  that  in  obedience 
to  the  instructions  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  the  colonists 
had  valiantly  determined  to  seize,  prosecute,  condemn,  and 
execute  all  pirates  who  should  venture  upon  their  coast, 
where  was  the  legal  machinery  provided  for  their  doing 
so  ?  A  commission  in  admiralty  has  been  authorized  by 
the  act  passed  in  Colleton's  time.  But  as  yet  there  was  no 
Vice  Admiral,  no  Marshal,  no  Clerk ;  no  court  organized 
for  the  purpose.  While  the  Lords  Proprietors  were  amus- 
ing themselves  with  the  making  of  Landgraves  and  Ca- 
ciques, and  bestowing  upon  them  baronies  and  manors,  for 
the  practical  business  of  administering  justice,  they  had  no 
Attorney  General  to  prosecute,  and  but  one  person  to  sit 
in  condemnation  as  Judge,  and  to  execute  his  own  decree 
as  Sheriff.     The  same  person  was  to  arrest  and  drag  into 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERKMENT  259 

his  court  the  accused ;  then  to  mount  the  bench  and  con- 
demn ;  then  to  take  the  prisoner  to  his  execution  or  to  see 
at  least  that  the  stripes  he  had  awarded  were  well  laid  on 
by  some  other  criminal  assigned  by  him  to  the  task.  It  was 
in  this  condition  of  society  that  the  colonists  were  called 
upon  to  enforce  the  laws  against  offences  not  committed 
against  themselves,  nor  within  the  limits  of  their  province. 
It  was  not  until  April  12, 1693,  that  the  Proprietors  author- 
ized the  Governor  to  appoint  some  fitting  person  Attorney 
General  for  the  prosecution  of  crimes.  Nor  does  it  appear 
that  such  a  man  was  then  to  be  found  in  the  province. 
More  than  a  year  after,  August  13,  1694,  the  Proprie- 
tors announced  that  they  had  appointed  Ferdinando  Gorges 
of  the  Inner  Temple  Attorney  General  of  the  province  of 
Carolina ;  ^  but  the  honor  was  not  sufficient  to  induce  that 
gentleman  to  come  out,  and  it  was  not  until  nearly  three 
years  after  that  Nicholas  Trott,  the  first  Attorney  General 
for  South  Carolina,  was  appointed. 

^  He  watt  states  that  about  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the 
habeas  corpus  act  and  the  jury  law  by  the  Parliament  of 
Carolina  (1692),  forty  men  arrived  in  a  privateer  called 
the  Loyal  Jamaica^  who  had  been  engaged  in  a  course  of 
piracy,  and  brought  into  the  country  treasures  of  Spanish 
gold  and  silver.  These  men,  he  says,  were  allowed  to 
enter  into  recognizance  for  their  peaceable  and  good  be- 
havior for  one  year  with  securities,  till  the  Governor 
should  hear  Avhether  the  Proprietor  would  grant  them  a 
general  indemnity.  At  another  time,  he  goes  on  to  say,  a 
vessel  was  shipwrecked  on  the  coast,  the  crew  of  which 
openly  and  boldly  confessed  they  had  been  on  the  Red  Sea 
plundering  the  dominion  of  the  Great  Mogul.^  He  watt 
does  not  give  his  authority  for  the  statement  in  regard  to 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  136. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  115. 


260  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  passengers  of  the  Loyal  Jamaica^  but  Dalcho,  in  his 
Church  History^  gives  the  names  of  twenty-one  of  them, 
among  which  are  some  of  the  most  honored  names  in 
South  Carolina.^  Fortunately,  two  books  of  misceUaneous 
records  are  preserved,  one  in  the  Secretary  of  State's 
office  in  Columbia,  and  the  other  in  the  Probate  office  in 
Charleston,  which  together  explain  the  circumstances  and 
refute  He  watt's  allegation  that  these  persons  had  been 
engaged  in  piracy.  Some  of  them,  it  is  true,  had  been 
engaged  in  a  cruise  as  privateers  under  a  commission  from 
King  William  against  the  French.  The  story  is  probably 
based  upon  a  letter  of  Edward  Randolph,  the  collector  of 
the  King's  customs  in  America,  which  we  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  quote  a  little  later,  in  which  the  most  reck- 
less charges  were  made  against  the  colonists,  not  only  in 
Carolina,  but  in  every  other  province  in  America.  In 
this  letter  of  1696,  Randolph,  complaining  that  Governor 
Blake  was  a  favorer  of  illegal  trade,  states  that,  about  three 
years  before,  seventy  pirates,  having  run  away  with  a 
vessel  from  Jamaica,  came  to  Charles  Town,  bringing  with 
them  a  vast  quantity  of  gold  from  the  Red  Sea.  That 
they  were  entertained  and  had  liberty  to  stay  or  go  to  any 
other  place  ;  that  the  vessel  was  seized  by  the  Governor 
for  the  Proprietors  and  sold.^  There  is  no  record  that  the 
Loyal  Jamaica  was  so  seized.  But  in  a  fragment  of  the 
journal  of  the  Grand  Council  found  in  Grant  Book  of 
1672-94,  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  in  Columbia, 
to  which  we  have  alluded,  there  is  a  list  of  twenty-two 
persons  who  were  required  to  enter  into  recognizances 
upon  their  arrival  in  that  vessel,  doubtless  under  the  in- 
structions which  were  sent  out  with  the  copy  of  Sir  Robert 
Holmes's  commission,  in  order  that  the  validity  of  her  com- 
mission might  be  examined.  This  record  gives  the  names 
1  Ch.  Hist,  15.  2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  196. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  261 

of  the  persons,  the  amounts  of  their  recognizances,  which, 
except  in  the  case  of  the  captain,  George  Reiner,  one 
Joshua  Wilkes,  and  one  James  Gilchrist,  were  merely 
nominal,  and  gives  also  their  sureties.  Among  these  per- 
sons were  Thomas  Pinckney,  Robert  Fenwick,  and  Daniel 
Horry.  The  sureties  for  Thomas  Pinckney  were  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson  and  Francis  Noble,  Gentleman ;  for  Rob- 
ert Fenwick,  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  and  John  Alexander; 
for  Daniel  Horry,  Isaac  Massique  (Mazyck?)  and  Peter 
Girard.  It  is  probable  that  all  but  the  captain,  Wilkes, 
and  Gilchrist  were  merely  passengers.^  In  the  Miscella- 
neous record  book  in  the  Probate  office  in  Charles  Town 
there  are  depositions  of  Honory  Perry,  Thomas  Pinckney, 

1  In  Grant  Book,  Secretary  of  State's  office,  1672-94,  p.  78,  we  find  this 
entry:  "The  under  named  persons  arrived  in  this  part  of  the  Province 
the  —  day  of  April  Anno  Domini  1692  in  the  shipp  called  the  LoyalJamaica 
commonly  called  the  Privateer  vessell.  Each  man  entered  into  Recogni- 
zance with  securities  in  the  month  of  May  1692.  In  the  sums  to  their 
names  annexed  for  one  year  or  until  the  government  heard  from  England. 

It  It 

John  "Watkins 0.50    James  Moore  Esq    Cap*  Edmund  Billinger  ...  0  25 

Richard  Newton        ...  0.50    Cap?  George  Dearsley     Edward  Rawlins  ....  0.25 

Roger  Gosse 0.40    Maj  Robert  Daniel    Charles  Burnham 0.20 

Adam  Richardson     .     .    .  0.50    Robert  Gibbes  Esq.     William  Beardesly  ....  0  25 

Edmund  Mendllcotte     .    .    0  80    Cap*  Charles  Basden    Peter  Glrrard 0.40 

William  Ballok      .     .     .     .    0  40    John  Sullivan     Edward  Lough  ton 0.20 

Christopher  Linkley  ...     0  40    Cap?  Charles  Basden    William  Smith 0  20 

Thomas  Pinckney     .     .     .  0.60    8.  Nathaniel  Johnson  Kn?     Francis  Noble.  Gen*  .  0.80 

Capi  George  Reiner  .     .     .      400  a  John  Alexander    William  Smith 200 

Joshua  Wilkes       ....     100  5  John  Alexander    David  Maybank ;  60 

Robert  Fenwicke  ....  0  60    S.  Nathaniel  Johnson    John  Alexander    ....  0  80 

James  Gilchrist      ....      100  &  John  Alexander.    Andrew  Baugh 50 

Francis  Blanchard      .    .     .    0.40    Peter  La  Salle    John  Thomas 0.20 

Roger  Clare 0  30    Charles  Barsden.     Henry  Hillory 0.15 

William  Crosslye  ....    0  30    Charles  Barsden     Henry  Hillory 0.15 

Daniel  Horry 0  50    Isaac  Majeique    Peter  Girard 0.25 

Daniel  Rawlinson  ....    0.60    Nicholas  Marden    Francis  Fidling 0  80 

Robert  Mathews    ....    0.60    Anthony  Shory.     Francis  Fidling 0  30 

William  Walesley  .     .     .     .    0.60    William  Williams    John  Lo veil 0  80 

Richard  Abram       ....    0.60    William  Popell    Nicholas  Barlysom 0.30 

John  Palmer 0.40    Joseph  Palmer    John  Guppell 0  20 

«$8000.  6  $2000. 


262  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Christopher  Linkley,  and  Edmund  Medlicott,  taken  before 
the  Council  on  the  29th  of  August,  1692,  in  the  case  of  a 
vessel  claimed  by  Jonathan  Amory,  which  probably  ex- 
plains the  matter.  In  these  depositions  they  state  that 
they  had  been  on  a  cruise  against  the  French  under  a 
commission  from  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  and  had 
captured  the  vessel  in  question  and  taken  her  into  Jamaica, 
where  she  was  condemned  and  sold  as  a  prize.  This  is 
doubtless  the  foundation  of  Randolph's  story  of  pirates 
running  away  with  a  vessel  from  Jamaica,  and  bringing 
her  into  Charles  Town,  and  also  of  Hewatt's  story  of  the 
forty  pirates  which  has  been  seized  upon  and  amplified 
by  other  writers.  Perry,  Pinckney,  Linkley,  and  Medli- 
cott, all  young  men  under  twenty-five  years  of  age,  had 
been  engaged  in  an  adventure  under  a  Royal  commission, 
as  privateers  in  times  of  open  and  flagrant  war  between 
England  and  France.  Privateers  under  a  regular  com- 
mission from  William  and  Mary  were  very  different  from 
the  piratical  crew  encouraged  by  Charles  II.  They  were 
no  more  pirates  than  were  the  sailors  of  the  allied  fleet 
who  about  the  same  time  burnt  the  French  ships  in  the 
bays  of  Cherbourg  and  La  Hogue. 

Poe's  charming  romance  of  the  Gold  Bug,  in  which  the 
scene  of  the  search  for  Kidd's  buried  treasure  is  laid  upon 
Sullivan's  Island,  has  given  currency  to  the  idea  that 
Kidd  at  some  time  visited  Charles  Town,  and  it  has  been 
said  that  a  number  of  his  crew  were  in  Carolina.^  But 
the  authority  referred  to  does  not,  we  think,  bear  out  the 
suggestion.  Two  affidavits  are  found  in  the  old  book  of 
miscellaneous  records  in  Probate  office,  Charleston,  just 
referred  to,  made  by  two  mariners  —  one  of  New  York  — 
then  in  this  province,  to  the  effect  that  they  knew  one 
Samuel  Bradley,  who  appears  to  have  been  charged 
1  The  Carolina  Pirates  and  Colonial  Commerce  (Hughson),  46. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  263 

with  being  one  of  Kidd's  men.  They  depose  that  they 
had  been  passengers  on  board  the  ship  Adventure,  Kidd, 
commander,  in  a  voyage  from  Madagascar  to  the  Island 
of  St.  Thomas,  and  had  seen  Bradley  on  the  ship  in  a  weak 
and  sickly  condition,  taking  no  part  with  the  piratical 
crew,  but,  on  the  contrary,  continually  protesting  against 
their  course ;  for  which  he  was  ultimately  put  ashore  on  a 
rock  on  the  Island  of  Antigua.  There  was  probably  no 
port  on  the  coast  of  America  —  and,  for  that  matter,  in 
Europe  —  then,  in  which  mariners  who  at  some  time  had 
been  engaged  in  piracies  could  not  be  found,  pardoned  or 
unpardoned.  So,  too,  the  place  of  Kidd's  hidden  treasure 
is  variously  located  all  along  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts. 
Sothell  had  wisely  attempted  to  incorporate  the  French 
into  the  political  body  of  the  colony,  and  to  facilitate  them 
in  the  settlement  of  the  hitherto  unoccupied  lands  on  the 
Santee ;  but  Ludwell  pursued  a  reactionary  course  in  re- 
gard to  these  people.  The  Grand  Council,  on  June  21, 
1692,  in  issuing  an  order  for  the  better  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Day  by  prohibiting  the  haunting  of  punch  houses 
during  the  time  of  divine  service,  further  ordered  "  that  the 
Fiench  ministers  and  officers  of  their  church  be  advised 
that  they  begin  their  divine  service  at  9  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  about  2  in  the  afternoon  of  which  they  are 
to  take  due  notice  and  pay  obedience  thereunto."  The 
Huguenots  complained  to  the  Proprietors  of  the  threats 
made  their  estates  and  marriages,  whereupon  the  Proprie- 
tors wrote  to  the  Governor  and  Council  on  April  10, 
1693:1  — 

"  The  French  have  complained  to  us  that  they  are  threatened  to 
have  their  estates  taken  from  their  children  after  their  death  because 
they  are  aliens.  Now  many  of  them  have  bought  the  land  they 
enjoy  of  us,  and  if  their  estates  are  forfeited  they  escheat  to  us,  and 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  176  ;  Appendix,  437. 


264  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

God  forbid  that  we  should  [take]  the  advantage  of  the  forfeiture, 
nor  do  we  so  intend  and  therefore  have  sent  our  declaration  under 
our  hands  and  seals  to  that  purpose  which  we  will  shall  be  registered 
in  the  Secretary's  and  Registrar's  Office,  that  it  may  remain  upon 
record  in  Carolina,  and  be  obliging  to  our  heirs  successors  and  assigns. 
They  also  complain  that  they  are  required  to  begin  their  Divine  wor- 
shipp  at  the  same  time  that  the  English  doe,  which  is  inconvenient  to 
them  in  regard  that  severall  of  their  congregations  living  out  of 
Towne  are  forced  to  come  and  go  by  water,  &  for  the  convenience 
of  such  they  begin  their  Divine  Worshipp  earlier  or  later  as  the  tide 
serves,  in  which  we  would  have  them  not  molested.  They  Complain 
also  that  they  are  told  the  marriages  made  by  their  ministers  are  not 
lawfuU  because  they  are  not  ordained  by  some  bishop  and  their  chil- 
dren that  are  begotten  are  bastards.  Wee  have  power  by  our  patent  to 
grant  liberty  of  Conscience  in  Carolina.  And  it  is  granted  by  an  act 
of  Parliament  here,  and  persons  are  married  in  the  Dutch  &  French 
churches  by  ministers  that  were  never  ordained  and  yett  we  have  not 
heard  that  the  children  begotten  in  such  marriages  are  reputed  un- 
lawful or  bastards  and  this  seems  to  us  opposite  to  that  liberty  of 
conscience  their  Majesties  have  consented  to  here,  and  we  pursuant 
to  the  power  Granted  us  have  Granted  in  Carolina.  Wee  desire 
these  things  may  be  remedied  and  that  their  Complaints  of  all  kinds 
be  heard  with  favor  and  that  they  have  equal  Justice  with  English- 
men and  enjoy  the  same  privileges ;  it  being  for  their  Majesties  service 
to  have  as  many  of  them  as  we  can  in  Carolina.  Wee  would  have 
them  receive  all  manner  of  just  encouragement  whatsoever,"  etc. 

Ludwell  was  no  more  successful  in  his  government  than 
his  predecessors.  In  attempting  to  appease  both  the  Pro- 
prietors and  the  colonists,  he  satisfied  neither.  The  Pro- 
prietors had  abandoned  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  in 
name,  but  by  their  instructions  they  strictly  retained  their 
agrarian  regulations  and  surrendered  no  power  claimed  for 
themselves.  To  gratify  the  leaders  of  the  people  in  a 
measure,  however,  ampler  provisions  were  made  for  grant- 
ing them  lands  by  the  Governor,  and  the  legislative  privi- 
leges of  the  Assembly  were  defined  and  extended  in  cases 
in  which  the  public  peace  and  welfare  required  enactments, 
provided  they  did  not  "diminish  or  alter  any  powers  granted 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  265 

to  the  Proprietors."  It  is  evident  that  while  Ludwell  had 
refused  the  demands  of  the  Assembly  in  the  matter  of  the 
indemnity,  he  had  lost  the  confidence  of  the  Proprietors. 
"  We  are  glad  to  hear  that  you  gain  on  both  parties,"  they 
wrote,  "  and  approve  of  your  design  to  open  their  eyes. 
Avoid  the  snare  Colleton  fell  into,  who  was  popular  at 
first;  but  the  Goose-Creek  men  fearing  the  loss  of  their 
power  offered  him  an  excise  for  his  support,  and  in  return 
made  him  turn  out  seal  deputies  and  disoblige  others  to 
please  them ;  yet  afterward  called  out  against  his  avarice 
whereby  he  lost  the  opinion  of  the  people.  We  hear  they 
are  playing  the  same  game  with  you  by  offering  a  gift  of 
a  thousand  pounds.  James  Moore  is  at  the  head  of  this 
faction.  And  in  return  you  had  an  act  of  indemnity 
which  you  had  not  the  power  to  grant.  .  .  .  We  observe 
you  say  the  Goose-Creek  men  are  resolved  to  oppose  all 
we  shall  offer ;  therefore  they  ought  not  to  be  employed. 

You  say  Sir  Nathaniel  has  hopes  for  himself,  were 

the  government  changed  to  the  king.  This  cannot  be 
from  William,  because  he  quitted  the  Leeward  Islands  on 
account  of  refusing  to  take  the  new  oaths.  Watch  his  ac- 
tions." ^  The  Governor  was  thus  distrusted  by  both  parties. 
Previously  to  Sothell's  administration,  the  enacting  clause 
of  all  acts  had  run,  "  hy  the  Palatine  and  the  rest  of  the 
true  and  absolute  Lords  and  Proprietors  of  this  Province  hy 
and  with  the  advice  of  the  nobility  and  commons  in  their 
Parliament  assembled.^'  ^  In  Sothell's  time  the  word  "  no- 
bility "  had  been  omitted,  and  Ludwell,  it  appears,  had 
advised  the  same  omission.  He  had  also  assented  to 
several  acts  which  the  Proprietors  immediately  annulled, 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  169.  This  allusion  is  to  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson,  subsequently  Governor,  who  had  recently  come  into 
the  province. 

2  See  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  pp.  40-73. 


266  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

and  thereupon  recalled  the  permission  they  had  given  for 
the  publication  of  a  certain  class  of  important  laws  until 
ratified  by  themselves  in  England.  He  had  been  em- 
powered to  grant  lands  and  furnished  with  a  form  of  in- 
denture for  that  purpose.  The  opposition  of  the  people 
finally  induced  him  to  propose  to  the  Assembly  another 
form  of  deed  on  terms  that  affected  the  interests  of  their 
Lordships.  The  Proprietors,  dissatisfied  with  his  conduct, 
recalled  his  commission.^ 

The  Proprietors  now  went  back  again  to  the  colonists 
for  a  Governor,  and  sent  out  a  commission  for  Thomas 
Smith.  He  had,  it  will  be  remembered,  been  nominated 
as  Governor  to  succeed  Colleton;  but  had  been  superseded 
by  Sothell.  He  had  loyally  stood  by  the  Proprietors  in 
all  the  controversies  since  his  arrival  in  the  colony,  and 
had  advised  Colleton  in  proclaiming  martial  law  against 
Berresford  and  the  others,  whom  their  Lordships  designated 
as  "the  Goose-Creek  men."  He  was  himself  one  of  the 
richest  men  in  the  colony,  and  had  recently  married  the 
widow  of  John  d'Arsens,  Seigneur  de  Wernhaut,  to  whom 
the  Proprietors  had  in  1686  granted  12,000  acres  of  land. 

D'Arsens  appears  to  have  died  before  the  grant  was  per- 
fected, and  upon  Smith's  marriage  with  D'Arsens's  widow, 
he  was  allowed  the  benefit  of  the  grant.^  He  was  now 
made  a  Landgrave,  as  became  a  Governor,  with  the  usual 
accompanying  grant  of  48,000  acres  more.  The  Proprie- 
tors might  well  now  congratulate  themselves  that  they  had 
committed  the  province  to  the  care  of  one  who  was  deeply 
interested  in  its  welfare,  and  cognizant  of  its  interests. 
Much  was  expected  of  his  character,  experience,  and  in- 
timate knowledge  of  colonial  affairs.  But  he  lost  courage 
at  the  popular  ferment  about  the  tenure  of  lands,  payment 

'  1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  169,  170. 
2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc,  vol.  I,  123. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  267 

of  quit-rents,  the  naturalization  of  the  Huguenots,  the  an- 
nulment by  the  Proprietors  of  the  acts  of  LudwelFs  Parlia- 
ment relating  to  juries,  and  the  election  of  representatives. 
He  did  not  continue  in  office  a  year.^  He  was  commis- 
sioned on  the  29th  of  November,  1693,2  as  Governor  of 
"Carolina,"  including  both  North  and  South  Carolina. 
His  instructions,  like  those  of  Ludwell,  directed  him,  if 
practicable,  to  unite  the  colonies  under  one  General  As- 
sembly, to  which  Albemarle  County  should  send  dele- 
gates. If  this  was,  however,  impracticable,  he  was  to  ap- 
point a  deputy  for  North  Carolina.^ 

Governor  Smith  was  enjoined  to  compel  by  law  the 
collection  of  rents,  and  assume  the  responsibility  of  direct- 
ing the  Receiver  General.  But  there  stood,  says  Rivers, 
the  violent  James  Moore  and  his  coadjutors,  determined 
not  to  pay.  "  We  part  with  our  lands  on  our  own  terms," 
reiterated  their  Lordships.  "  And  we  consider  your  deed 
invalid,"  rejoined  the  faction  of  the  people,  "because  only 
some  of  you  have  set  your  hands  and  seals  thereto."  A 
number  of  the  malcontents  quitted  the  province,  and  it 
was  thought  unless  others  went  peace  could  not  be  re- 
stored. At  length  Governor  Smith,  despairing  of  allaying 
the  discontents  and  contentions,  wrote  to  the  Proprietors 
in  October,  1694,  that  he  and  others  intended  to  abandon 
Carolina  and  live  in  some  other  part  of  America  ;  "  that  it 
was  impossible  to  settle  the  country  except  a  Proprietor 
himself  was  sent  over  with  full  power  to  heal  grievances." 
Without  waiting  for  their  reply,  he  resigned,  and  Joseph 
Blake,  the  son  of  Benjamin  Blake  the  emigrant,  who  had 
been  made  a  Landgrave,  was  chosen  by  the  Council  to  act 
in  his  stead  until  a  new  Governor  should  be  commissioned.* 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  171. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc^of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  134.  »  Ibid. 

*  Archdale,  Carroll's  Coll.,  101 ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  172. 


CHAPTER  XII 

1694-96 

Gbeat  changes  had  in  the  meanwhile  taken  place  in 
England.  James  II  had  abdicated,  and  William  and  Mary 
had  been  proclaimed  King  and  Queen  in  February,  1689. 
Of  the  original  Proprietors,  Clarendon,  Albemarle,  Lord 
Berkeley,  Shaftesbury,  Sir  George  Carteret,  Sir  William 
Berkeley,  and  Sir  John  Colleton  were  all  dead.  Earl 
Craven  alone  survived. 

Clarendon  had  died  at  Rouen,  in  exile,  on  the  19th  of 
December,  1674,  and  his  share,  which  during  his  exile  had 
been  represented  by  his  son.  Lord  Cornbury,  had  been  sold 
to  Seth  Sothell  (or  Southwell)  in  September,  1681.^ 

Albemarle  had  died  in  retirement  on  the  3d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1669;  his  son,  the  second  Duke,  died  in  1688,  without 
leaving  issue ;  and  his  share  had  been  in  litigation  in  the 
King's  Bench,  Chancery,  and  House  of  Lords.  It  had  just 
been  adjudicated  to  be  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Bath, 
who  was  accordingly  admitted  as  a  Proprietor  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1694.2 

Lord  Berkeley  had  failed  to  pay  his  quota  towards  the 
enterprise,^  and  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  concerned 
in  its  affairs  after  Shaftesbury  undertook  their  manage- 
ment.    In  1675  he  was  accredited  ambassador  extraordi- 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  105. 

2  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.,  Colonial,  vol.  Ill,  122 ;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc. 
of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  135. 

8  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  100. 

268 


tJKDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  269 

nary  to  the  Court  of  Versailles,  and  died  on  the  28th  of 
August,  1678.  His  son,  the  second  Baron  of  Stratton,  suc- 
ceeded to  his  proprietorship.  He  died  at  sea  the  21st  of 
September,  1682.^  The  other  Proprietors  appropriated  this 
share,  under  the  forfeiture  clause  of  their  joint-stock  asso- 
ciates, and  conveyed  it  to  Joseph  Blake  on  the  11th  of 
April,  1698.2 

Shaftesbury,  intriguing  with  Monmouth  and  joining  in 
the  "  No  Popery  Cry,"  had  been  seized  and  committed  to 
the  Tower  in  1681,  from  which  he  offered,  if  released,  to 
retire  to  Carolina.  He  was  allowed  to  escape  and  reached 
Amsterdam,  where  he  died  the  21st  of  January,  1683. 
His  share  was  now  held  by  his  son,  the  second  Earl,  "  a 
poor  creature  both  physically  and  mentally."  ^  It  was 
represented,  however,  by  Lord  Ashley,  the  son  of  the 
latter,  who  afterwards  became  another  famous  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury.  Locke's  connection  with  the  province  ceased 
with  the  fall  of  his  patron. 

Sir  George  Carteret,  who  had  been  created  a  baronet, 
died  on  the  13th  of  January,  1679,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son.  Sir  George,  then  a  boy  of  but  ten  years  of  age. 
During  his  minority  the  share  was  represented  by  the 
Earl  of  Bath.  This  second  Sir  George  died  just  about 
this  time,  i.e.  1695,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  who 
afterwards  became  the  Earl  of  Granville.* 

Sir  William  Berkeley  had  been  recalled  from  Virginia 
because  of  his  severity  in  putting  down  Bacon's  Rebellion, 
and,  refused  an  audience  by  the  King,  had  died,  it  was  said, 
of  a  broken  heart,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1677.  He  left  no 
issue.  There  was  great  controversy  over  his  share ;  the 
litigation  in  regard  to  it  was   not   ultimately  settled  in 

1  Burke's  Peerage. 

2  Danson  v.  Trott,  3  Brown's  Pari.  Cases,  452. 

3  Encyclopedia  Britannica.  *  Burke's  Peerage. 


270  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  courts  until  1729,  the  year  of  the  surrender  to  the 
Crown. 

In  March,  1681,  the  other  Proprietors  write  to  the  Gov- 
ernor in  Carolina  that  Sir  William  was  dead,  but  it  was 
not  known  to  whom  his  share  belonged.^  In  May  they 
write  that  Mr.  Archdale,  having  purchased  Lady  Berke- 
ley's proprietorship,  had  become  one  of  the  Proprietors.^ 
And  yet,  in  1682,  they  were  attempting  to  appropriate  the 
share  to  themselves  on  the  ground  that  it  had  lapsed 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions, 
and  were  only  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the  order  of  the 
King  in  council  on  the  10th  of  December,  1682,  made  upon 
the  petition  of  Viscount  Hardinge,  who  claimed  it  as  Sir 
William's  heir  at  law.  The  order  declared  that  the  grant 
to  Sir  William  had  been  made  "  without  being  subject  to 
such  lapse  or  avoidance."^  Viscount  Hardinge,  however, 
gained  nothing  by  his  interference  ;  for,  as  it  turned  out,  Sir 
William  had  left  a  will  by  which  he  devised  his  eighth 
part  of  the  province  to  his  wife  Dame  Frances.  After  his 
death  she  had  married  Colonel  Philip  Ludwell,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  the  other  Lords  Proprietors,  failing  in  their 
scheme  of  appropriating  this  share,  on  the  11th  of  April, 
1684,  four  of  them,  to  wit,  the  then  Duke  of  Albemarle,  the 
then  Lord  Carteret,  the  Earl  of  Craven,  and  Sir  Peter 
Colleton,  purchased  it  from  Ludwell  and  his  wife  Dame 
Frances  for  .£300,  that  is,  probably,  17500.  For  purposes 
of  their  own,  however,  they  did  not  take  the  title  to  them- 
selves, but  the  deed  which  they  took  conveyed  the  pro- 
prietorship to  one   Thomas  Amy  in  fee.      This  Thomas 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  104. 

2  Ibid.,  106. 

*  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  340.  Charles  Berkeley,  Viscount 
Fitzhardinge  in  Ireland  and  Earl  of  Falmouth  in  England,  was  the  son 
of  Charles,  eldest  brother  of  Lord  John  and  Sir  William  Berkeley.  The 
Genesis  of  the  United  States,  Alex.  Brown,  827,  828. 


UNDER  T?Hi:  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  271 

Amy  was  a  grocer  in  London,  probably  a  relation  of  Sir 
Peter  Colleton,  whose  mother  was  a  daughter  of  William 
Amy,  Esq.  Amy  appears  to  have  been  an  agent  of  the 
Proprietors  in  procuring  people  to  go  to  the  province,  and 
for  this  purpose  was  industrious  in  meeting  and  treating 
them  at  the  Carolina  Coffee  House  in  London.^  For  these 
services  12,000  acres  were  granted  him  in  1694.2  Sothell 
dying  in  the  same  year  without,  as  it  was  believed,  heirs 
or  assigns,  the  Proprietors  made  a  further  grant  to  Amy  of 
the  share  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon  that  Sothell  had  pur- 
chased, and  also  appointed  him  one  of  the  Proprietors. 
They  at  the  same  time  made  him  a  Landgrave  and  granted 
him  a  barony  of  48,000  acres  more.^ 

Sir  John  Colleton  was  the  firet  of  the  Proprietors  to  die. 
Upon  his  death,  in  1666,  he  had  been  succeeded  by  his 
son  Sir  Peter,  who  was  just  now  also  dead,  and  the  Colle- 
tons'  share  was  represented  by  William  Thornburgh,  mer- 
chant. Sir  Peter's  executor,  as  guardian  for  his  minor  son, 
the  second  Sir  John.* 

The  sole  survivor  of  the  original  Proprietors  was  the 
old  Earl  of  Craven,  who,  in  his  eightieth  year  in  com- 
mand of  the  Coldstream  Guards,  was  ready  to  resist  the 
foreign  troops  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  swearing  that  he 
would  rather  be  cut  in  pieces  than  yield  possession  of  his 
post,  and  only  doing  so  at  the  command  of  James.^     The 

1  Danson  v.  Trott,  supra. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  137,  141,  142. 

3  Danson  v.  Trott,  supra;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,\o\.  1, 141,  142. 
In  the  case  of  Danson  v,  Trott,  it  is  said  that  Sothell  was  dead  without 
heirs  or  assigns.  But  the  fact  was  that  he  had  left  a  will  which  was 
admitted  to  probate  in  North  Carolina,  where  he  died.  Hawks's  Hist. 
of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  491.  The  proprietorship  does  not  appear,  however, 
ever  to  have  been  claimed  by  any  one  under  his  will. 

4  Public  Records  of  So.  Ca.,  Colonial,  vol.  Ill,  127. 

5  Macaulay's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  IV,  42. 


272  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

stout  old  soldier  was  now  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his 
age,  but  he  still  presided  at  the  Board  of  Proprietors  as 
Palatine. 

The  Proprietors,  as  we  have  seen,  had  in  Majs  1682, 
written  that  Mr.  Archdale  had  purchased  Lady  Berke- 
ley's share,  and  had  become  a  Proprietor.  This  purchase 
was  made  in  the  name  of  Thomas  Archdale,  a  minor,  and 
the  interest  purchased  was  represented  by  his  father,  John 
Archdale.^  It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the  conflicting 
claims  to  this  share.  In  the  letter  of  May,  1681,  the  Pro- 
prietors recognize  its  purchase  by  Archdale  as  valid,  and 
yet  we  find  them  in  December,  1682,  endeavoring  to  appro- 
priate it  to  themselves  as  lapsed,  and  when  foiled  in  this, 
they  purchased  it  themselves  in  1684  from  Ludwell  and 
Lady  Berkeley,  now  Ludwell's  wife,  and  took  this  second 
title  in  the  name  of  Thomas  Amy.  And  what  is  still  more 
curious,  they  appear  to  have  recognized  the  double  title 
for  years ;  for  both  Archdale  and  Amy  sat  at  the  Board  of 
Proprietors  with  apparently  title  to  no  other  share  from 
April  11,  1684,  to  the  assignment  by  them  of  SothelFs 
share  to  Amy  in  September  29,  1697. 

However  this  may  be,  the  Proprietors,  on  July  29,  1682, 
that  is,  just  after  his  purchase  of  Lady  Berkeley's  share, 
commissioned  Archdale  to  receive  their  rents  due  in  North 
Carolina ;  ^  and  thereupon  he  came  out  and  remained  in 
Albemarle  apparently  for  some  years.  He  was  probably, 
in  some  degree  at  least,  attracted  to  that  place  by  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  Quakers,  he  having  become  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  "  convinced  and  separated  from  his 
father's  house,"  as  he  states,  by  the  preaching  of  George 
Fox.     That  he  contemplated  the  permanent  settlement  of 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  467  ;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.^ 
vol.  I,  204. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  105,  106. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  273 

a  portion  of  his  family  in  North  Carolina,  and  that  one 
of  his  daughters  did  actually  settle  there  as  the  wife  of 
Emmanuel  Low,  to  whom  she  was  married  in  1668,  is 
proved,  says  Dr.  Hawks,  by  existing  records,  as  well  as  by 
the  fact  that  some  of  their  descendants  remained  there 
until  recently,  and  perhaps  are  there  to  this  day.^  Arch- 
dale  was  in  North  Carolina  in  an  official  capacity  in  1683,  as 
Sothell,  who  was  then  the  Governor  there,  was  instructed 
by  the  Proprietors  to  communicate  with  him  upon  the 
subject  of  their  letter.^ 

We  have  seen  the  great  rewards  the  Proprietors  had 
heaped  upon  Amy  for  the  use  of  his  name  in  holding  the 
share  they  had  purchased  from  Lady  Berkeley,  and  for 
the  "  important  services  rendered  by  him  "  at  the  Carolina 
Coffee  House,  but  it  will  appear  a  little  later  that  Nicholas 
Trott  of  London,^  who  became  his  son-in-law,  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  provincial  title  of  nobility  and  a  few  acres 
of  wild  woods  in  payment  of  good  and  lawful  money  of 
the  realm  expended  by  Amy  in  ^'  drumming  "  for  the  Pro- 
prietors, but  upon  the  death  of  Amy  demanded  further 
compensation  before  the  legal  title  held  by  Amy's  heirs 
should  be  divested.  This  gave  rise  to  the  great  suit  of 
Danson  against  Trott,  which  reached,  as  we  have  said,  the 
House  of  Lords. 

The  business  of  the  province  in  England  was  at  this 
time  principally  conducted  by  Archdale,  Amy,  and  Thorn- 
burgh  in  the  name  and  over  the  signature  of  the  aged  Earl 
of  Craven  as  Palatine. 

The  Proprietors  had  originally  organized  themselves 
into  a  joint-stock  company,  to  the  capital  of  which  each 

1  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  378,  499. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc/ofSo.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  110. 

8  This  Nicholas  Trott  of  London  was  cousin  of  the  famous  Nicholas 
Trott,  Chief  Justice  of  South  Carolina. 


274  HlSTOtlY  OF  SOtJTfl  CAROLliJA 

was  to  contribute  £500,  and  X200  more  annually.  This 
capital  was  not,  however,  fully  paid  in;  neither  Lord 
Berkeley  nor  Sir  William  fulfilling  their  quotas.  Archdale 
says,  however,  that  about  <£12,000  was  contributed.  This 
was  expended  in  fitting  out  the  expedition  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  colony  in  1669.  No  more  capital  appears  to 
have  been  raised,  though  individual  Proprietors  are  said 
to  have  laid  out  several  thousand  pounjis  to  advance  the 
colony.  Upon  this  comparatively  insignificant  basis,  an 
outlay  of  from  1240,000  to  1300,000  of  our  present  money, 
the  Proprietors  had  undertaken  to  establish  a  most  ex- 
pensive and  aristocratic  government  in  the  wild  woods 
of  Carolina,  rivalling  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  in  the 
grandeur  and  number  of  its  officers,  with  its  three  orders, 
themselves  representing  the  King,  a  nobility  of  their  own 
creation,  and  an  assembly  of  the  Commons. 

The  extravagance  of  this  attempt  was  perhaps  not  so 
manifestly  striking,  while  the  board  —  a  trading  corpora- 
tion though  it  was  —  consisted  only  of  famous  Dukes, 
Earls,  Lords,  and  Baronets  who  had  already  been  engaged 
in  the  making  and  unmaking  of  Kings,  and  the  overthrow 
and  establishment  of  governments ;  but  exile  and  death 
soon  changed  its  composition,  and  the  incongruity  of  the 
whole  scheme  began  to  expose  itself  more  fully  when 
commoners,  some  of  whom  were  Quakers,  and  others  mere 
adventurers,  became  purchasers  and  assignees  of  shares  in 
the  enterprise,  the  value  of  which  had  fallen  below  the 
small  sums  invested ;  an  eighth  share  in  the  vast  domain 
included  in  the  grant,  with  power  in  the  owners  of  turn- 
ing themselves  and  others  into  a  nobility,  selling  in  the 
market  at  the  paltry  sum  of  <£300  (from  $6000  to  $7500). 

The  board,  — the  Palatine  Court,  as  it  was  styled,  —  with 
its  immense  province  to  settle  and  govern,  had  not  even 
an  office  or  chamber  for  the  transaction  of  its  business,  but 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  275 

met  about,  sometimes  at  Whitehall,  sometimes  at  the  Cock 
Pit,  sometimes  at  Westminster,  but  usually  at  the  private 
residence  of  some  one  of  its  members,  as  convenience  sug- 
gested ;  nor  do  they  appear  to  have  had  any  regular  time 
for  meeting,  nor  rules  prescribing  the  conduct  of  their 
business ;  indeed,  much  of  the  business  was  transacted 
without  any  meeting  at  all,  but  by  means  of  papers  drawn 
by  their  Secretary,  and  carried  about  for  the  signature  of 
such  of  the  Proprietors  as  could  be  found.  During  the 
time  that  the  affairs  of  the  province  were  under  the  man- 
agement of  Shaftesbury,  with  Locke  acting  as  his  secre- 
tary, the  business  was  regularly  and  promptly  attended  to, 
whether  the  Constitutions  they  devised  were  proper  or  not; 
but  after  Shaftesbury's  fall  it  was  so  neglected  that,  as  has 
already  appeared,  it  was  usually  a  year  before  the  Proprie- 
tors' approval  to  an  act  could  be  obtained. 

The  action  of  their  Lordships  then  became  careless  and 
capricious.  They  had  made  it  a  part  of  their  Constitutions 
that  the  eldest  Proprietor  or  Landgrave,  who  should  be 
personally  in  Carolina,  should,  of  course,  be  the  Palatine 
deputy,  and  yet  they  were  offended  when  Yeamans,  the 
only  Landgrave  in  the  province,  assumed  to  act  as  such. 
So,  too,  while  submitting,  however  reluctantly,  to  Sothell's 
assumption  of  the  government,  as  the  only  Proprietor 
present,  they  refused  to  confirm  his  administration.  West, 
their  most  faithful  and  efficient  servant,  was  made  to  give 
way  to  Morton,  because  Morton  had  carried  out  a  few  new 
settlers.  Then  Morton  was  capriciously  removed  because 
they  thought  a  stranger  would  be  more  subservient  to 
their  views  than  one  who  had  identified  himself  with 
the  colony ;  and  Kyrle,  an  Irishman  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  people  or  their  wants,  was  sent  to  govern  them.  He 
dying  immediately,  they  not  unnaturally  appointed  one  of 
the  Colletons  as  Governor,  but  the  people  overthrowing 


276  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

his  government,  they  weakly  allowed  Sothell's  adminis- 
tration, while  refusing  to  support  it.  Then  they  sent 
Ludwell ;  but  retained  him  only  two  years,  when  they  re- 
called him,  and  appointed  Smith,  who  in  disgust  threw  up 
the  office  in  less  than  a  year. 

Without  counting  the  short  rule  of  Kyrle,  and  the  acci- 
dental administration  of  Quarry,  —  though  Quarry's  admin- 
istration, short  and  accidental  as  it  was,  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  most  important,  —  in  twenty-three  years  the  Proprie- 
tors had  had  by  these  removals  and  appointments  eleven 
different  administrations.  Smith,  failing  to  compose  the 
contentions  in  the  province,  might  well  appeal  to  the  Pro- 
prietors that  one  of  them  should  come  out  to  see  for  him- 
self and  in  their  interest,  and  to  bring  with  him  full  power 
to  act  in  the  pacification  of  the  people  and  the  settlement 
of  the  affairs  of  the  province. 

Governor  Smith's  appeal  to  the  Proprietors  to  send  out 
one  of  their  number  was  received  by  them ;  but  who  was 
to  come  ? 

On  the  receipt  of  Governor  Smith's  letter,  a  meeting 
was  called  for  the  16th  of  June,  1694,  at  Mr.  Thornburgh's 
residence  on  Tower  Hill ;  but  there  only  came  the  old  Earl 
of  Craven,  the  Earl  of  Bath,  Mr.  Archdale,  and  Mr.  Amy. 
It  was  resolved,  therefore,  to  write  to  Lord  Ashley,  who 
was  in  the  country,  and  pray  him  to  arrange  to  attend 
upon  this  extraordinary  occasion  for  the  good  of  Carolina, 
which  would  require  a  full  Assembly.^  Lord  Ashley,  the 
second  great  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  the  third  in  number,  then 
but  twenty-four  years  of  age,  had  shortly  before  returned 
from  foreign  travel,  and  it  was  hoped  that  he  might  have 
been  induced  to  undertake  the  mission ;  but  he  was  just 
about  to  enter  public  life  in  England,  his  father's  affairs 
there  required  his  attention,  and  he  did  not  respond  to 
1  Public  Eecords  of  So.  Ca.,  Colonial  (MSB.),  vol.  V,  130. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  277 

the  call  upon  him  to  go  out  to  Carolina.  He  did  not  even 
attend  the  attempted  meeting  on  the  23d  of  July.  There 
were  present  at  this  meeting  only  the  same  persons,  and 
they  adjourned  to  the  28th,  for  which  day  "a  court"  meet- 
ing was  called.  But  at  this  court  the  Earl  of  Bath  was 
not  present,  and  the  court  consisted  only  of  Earl  Craven, 
Mr.  John  Archdale,  Mr.  Thomas  Amy,  and  Mr.  Thorn- 
burgh.  Of  these  the  Earl  was  the  only  owner  of  the 
proprietorship  which  he  represented.  We  have  seen  the 
dubious  position  of  both  Amy  and  Archdale ;  and  Thorn- 
burgh  was  present  only  as  the  guardian  of  the  minor,  Sir 
John  Colleton.  So  far  from  being  able  to  send  out  one 
of  the  Proprietors  themselves,  it  was  found  possible  to  get 
but  one  of  them  to  attend  a  meeting  to  consider  the  sub- 
ject, and  he  was  an  octogenarian. 

In  this  dilemma  Archdale  was  willing  to  make  another 
visit  to  America,  and  though  not  in  his  own  right  a  Pro- 
prietor, it  was  agreed  between  Amy,  Thornburgh,  and 
himself,  with  the  assent  of  the  Earl  of  Craven,  that  he 
should  come  ;  so  the  four,  holding  "  a  court,"  sat  down  and 
prepared  his  instructions,  Archdale  himself  taking  part 
in  their  preparation.  They  were  careful  to  qualify  and 
to  explain  Mr.  Archdale's  position  by  recording  "  that  Mr. 
Archdale  being  in  the  nature  of  a  proprietory'^  and  that  the 
present  exigency  of  affairs  in  Carolina  required,  were  the 
only  inducements  and  reasons  for  his  commission  and  in- 
structions being  so  much  larger  than  those  of  other  Gov- 
ernors formerly  had  been.^ 

Archdale  appears  to  have  been  a  vain,  amiable,  quick- 
tempered man,  of  some  cleverness  for  business,  but  without 
the  political  sagacity  or  ability  of  Sothell.  Much  has  been 
said  of  his  piety,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its 
earnestness,  though  Randolph  does  accuse  him  of  dishonest 
1  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.,  Colonial,  vol.  Ill,  134. 


278  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

practices  as  Governor.  But  whatever  other  principles  of 
Quakerism  he  may  have  adopted,  humility  was  not  one  of 
them ;  and  a  barony  of  48,000  acres,  which  accompanied 
the  title  of  Landgrave,  was  too  much  to  forego  because  of 
scruples  as  to  worldly  titles.  So  he  accepted  both,  as  well 
also  as  the  title  of  Governor,  although  the  latter  did  re- 
quire that  he  should  be  addressed  as  his  "  Honor." 

Archdale  was  commissioned  Governor  both  of  South 
and  North  Carolina,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1694.1  He 
was  empowered  to  constitute  a  deputy  both  in  South  and 
North  Carolina  while  he  was  in  the  province  and  also 
upon  his  departure  from  Carolina  to  England.  He  was 
given  power  and  authority,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
three  of  the  deputies  of  the  Proprietors,  to  grant  and  sell 
lands,  reserving  a  rent  of  12  pence  for  100  acres  per  annum, 
and  to  settle  the  quit-rents  by  patents  or  indentures  in 
such  manner  as  he  and  three  deputies  might  think  fit, 
receiving  such  commodities  as  the  country  afforded  for  the 
rent  at  a  true  value.  He  was  also  authorized  to  escheat 
lands  and  afterwards  to  sell  or  let  them  as  might  be  best. 
He  was  farther  empowered,  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Council  and  General  Assembly,  to  alter  any  former 
laws  that  should  be  thought  fit  to  be  changed,  and  to 
enact  such  others  as  might  be  reasonable  for  the  better 
government  of  the  province,  the  new  laws  to  be  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  Fundamental  Constitutions.  Special 
directions  were  given  in  regard  to  the  drawing  of  juries.^ 

It  was  nearly  a  year  before  Governor  Archdale  reached 
Carolina.  He  came  by  the  way  of  Virginia,  from  which 
place,  although  clothed  with  discretionary  authority,  he 
wrote  requesting  specific  power  to  appoint  new  deputies 
to  the  Proprietors,  to  abate  the  quit-rents  in  arrear,  and  to 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  138. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  389,  390. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  279 

sell  land.  His  request  was  granted,  and  where  he  needed 
guidance  he  was  referred  to  the  instructions  sent  to  Lud- 
well.  He  was  given  authority  to  settle  all  disputes  con- 
cerning lands,  to  sell  at  £20  per  thousand  acres,  the  land 
near  the  settlements,  and  <£10  for  the  same  quantity  in 
the  interior;  to  take  care  of  the  Indians  as  he  thought 
best;  to  build  new  towns;  to  fortify  Charles  Town  and 
grant  it  a  charter  and  permanently  to  settle  the  government 
by  examining  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  finding  what 
would  be  acceptable  to  the  people,  and  proposing  a  new 
set  to  the  Proprietors  for  their  confirmation.^  The  price 
of  land,  it  will  be  observed,  was  thus  greatly  reduced ; 
from  $1  an  acre,  lands  near  the  settlement  were  now 
offered  at  from  50  cents  to  40  cents  an  acre ;  and  in  the 
interior  at  from  20  cents  to  25  cents. 

Having  procured  these  additional  instructions,  Governor 
Archdale,  at  length,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1695,  entered 
upon  his  government  at  Charles  Town.  He  spent  the  fii*st 
months  endeavoring  to  allay  "  the  heats "  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  selecting  his  Council.  He  brought  out  with 
him  for  this  purpose  blank  deputations,  in  the  use  of 
which  the  Proprietors  recommended  him  to  observe  care, 
"  favor  to  be  shown  to  those  who  have  been  the  greatest 
benefactors  to  the  country."  ^  He  prided  himself  no  little 
upon  the  moderation  and  judgment  with  which  he  exe- 
cuted this  power.  "  My  power,"  he  says,  "  was  very  large, 
yet  did  I  not  wholly  exclude  the '  High  Church  party  at 
that  time  out  of  the  essential  part  of  the  government,  but 
mix'd  two  ^loderate  Church-men  to  one  High  Churchman 
in  the  council  whereby  the  ballance  of  government  was 
preserved  peaceable  and  quiet  in  my  Time,  and  so  left  and 
continued  several  years  whilst  Blake  whom  I  left  Gov- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  179,  180. 

2  Ibid.,  138, 


280  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ernour  lived."  ^  The  Council  he  thus  appointed  and 
"mixed"  were  Joseph  Blake,  whom  he  describes  as 
"accounted  in  some  measure  a  dissenter," ^  Stephen  Bull, 
James  Moore,  Paul  Grimball,  Thomas  Gary  (his  son-in- 
law),  John  Berresford,  and  William  Hawett.^  All  former 
judges  of  the  courts,  officers  of  the  militia,  and  justices 
of  the  peace  were  continued  in  their  respective  offices.* 
Having  arranged  these  matters  to  his  satisfaction,  he 
summoned  his  first  Parliament.  "  When  I  arriv'd,"  he 
says,  "  I  found  all  matters  in  great  confusion  and  every 
faction  apply 'd  themselves  to  me  in  hopes  of  relief;  I 
appeased  them  with  kind  and  gentle  words  and  so  soon  as 
possible  call'd  an  assembly."  Upon  opening  the  Assembly, 
he  addressed  them  as  "  Friends  and  Representatives  of  the 
People,"  and  spoke  to  them  of  the  occasion  of  his  coming, 
told  them  that  upon  the  application  for  some  Proprietor 
to  come  over.  Lord  Ashley  had  been  nominated,  but  his 
affairs  not  permitting  his  Lordship's  coming,  he  had  been 
induced  to  do  so.  That  he  was  endued  with  a  considerable 
power  and  trust,  and  he  hoped  faithfully  and  impartially 
to  answer  their  expectations.  "And  I  believe  I  may 
appeal  to  your  Serious  Rational  Observations  whether  I 
have  not  already  so  allay 'd  your  Heats  as  that  the  disgust- 
ing Titles  thereof  are  so  much  withered  away,  and  I  hope 
this  Meeting  with  you  will  wholly  extinguish  them  so  that 
a  solid  Settlement  of  this  hopeful  Colony  will  ensue,"  etc. 
Now  that  the  Assemby.  had  heard  the  Proprietors'  inten- 
tions in  sending  him  hither,  he  advised  them  to  proceed 
soberly  and  mildly. 

1  Archdale's  Description  of  Carolina  (1708);  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II, 
112,  113. 

2  Ibid. 

8  He  watt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  130 ;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.y 
vol.  I,  142. 

*  Hewatt,  vol.  I,  130. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  281 

The  Assembly  replied,  thanking  Almighty  God  for  his 
Honor's  safe  arrival,  and  returned  him  most  sincere  and 
hearty  thanks  for  the  progress  he  had  already  made  since 
his  arrival  towards  the  settlement  of  the  place;  for  his 
candid  expressions  and  the  good  favor  and  great  kindness 
shown  to  the  people,  and  assured  him  of  their  hearty 
endeavor  to  the  attaining  of  such  a  settlement  as  would 
redound  to  the  honor  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  and  the 
happiness  of  the  people. 

''  But  Courteous  Reader,"  says  Archdale,  "  after  this  fair 
Blossomin  Season  to  produce  Peace  and  Tranquility  to 
the  Country  some  endeavored  to  sow  Seed  of  Contention 
thereby  to  nip  the  same;  insomuch  that  they  sat  six 
Weeks  under  Civil  Broils  and  Heats;  but  at  length  re- 
collecting their  Minds  into  a  cooler  Frame  of  Spirit  my 
Patience  was  a  great  means  to  overcome  them  so  that  in 
the  conclusion  all  Matters  ended  amicably."  ^ 

These  remarks,  says  Rivers,  are  applicable  to  both  his 
parliaments,  but  Archdale  did  not  expend  much  of  his 
patience  upon  the  first,  which  was  dissolved  on  the  29th 
of  November,  after  a  session  of  a  few  weeks.  Upon  open- 
ing this  Parliament  he  told  the  Assembly  that  the  Proprie- 
tors required  the  jury  act  to  be  changed,  so  that  the  names 
of  the  jurymen  should  each  be  on  a  single  piece  of  parch- 
ment and  not  by  twelves.  He  next  informed  them  that 
the  price  of  selling  land  was  reduced  to  only  half  the 
former  price,  and  bade  them  remember  the  Proprietors  had 
borne  the  expense  "  of  several  thousand  pounds "  out  of 
their  own  pockets  in  settling  the  province.  As  he  had 
spoken  to  them  of  his  "  many  dangers  and  hardships  "  by 
land  and  by  water,  incurred  only  for  their  benefit,  the 
Assembly  immediately  gave  him  the  opportunity  he  seemed 
to  desire  to  benefit  them,  and  earnestly  solicited  him  to 
1  Archdale's  Description^  Carroll's  Coll. ,  vol.  II,  101-103. 


282  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

remit  the  arrears  of  rent,  which  were  now  a  grievous 
burden  upon  all  the  people.  To  their  surprise  he  refused 
to  do  so  except  on  hard  conditions.^  This  at  once  led  to 
a  rupture  with  the  Assembly,  which  was  dissolved.  Imme- 
diately upon  its  dissolution,  however,  Jonathan  Amory,  the 
Speaker,  presented  a  petition  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the 
people  at  large,  praying  the  summoning  of  another,  to  con- 
sist of  thirty  representatives.  Archdale  agreed  to  this  and 
on  the  30th  of  November,  the  day  after  he  had  dissolved 
the  Assembly,  issued  a  proclamation  for  the  freemen  of  the 
colony  to  meet  on  the  19th  of  December,  at  Charles  Town, 
'*  then  and  there  by  a  majority  of  their  voices  to  agree  to 
and  ascertain  the  number  of  their  representatives  for  this 
part  of  the  Province,  to  consult  and  advise  with  us  about 
making  such  laws  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  safety  and 
defence  of  this  Province."  He  professed  to  do  this  in  com- 
pliance with  the  request  of  the  "modest  and  reasonable 
members  of  the  Commons  and  other  well  meaning  inhabi- 
tants," and  not  at  all  to  please  "  the  obstinate  majority  " 
who  had  just  defeated  his  designs  for  the  peace  of  the 
province.^ 

Of  the  thirty  representatives  on  which  the  people  de- 
cided, the  twenty  for  both  Berkeley  and  Craven  were 
elected  at  Charles  Town,  and  the  ten  for  Colleton  at  Captain 
Bristow's  plantation  in  that  county.  There  were  no 
Huguenots  among  the  representatives  who  assembled  in 
the  Parliament  January,  1696.  A  petition  was  again  made 
for  an  abatement  of  the  debts  due  to  the  Proprietors. 
Archdale  and  his  Council  proposed  to  remit  all  arrears 
to  Michaelmas,  1695,  provided  the  remaining  debts  were 
secured,  the  town  fortified  by  means  of  taxes  and  measures 
taken  for  the  ready  payment  of  quit-rents  for  the  future. 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  180. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  181;  Appendix,  439, 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  283 

The  Assembly  first  demanded  an  accurate  statement  of 
accounts  between  the  people  and  Proprietors.  Whilst  the 
Governor  thus  bargained  when  he  ought  generously  to 
have  given,  he  requested  on  his  part  a  clause  to  be  inserted 
in  the  militia  act  in  behalf  of  "  tender  conscience,"  which 
was  unanimously  refused.^ 

At  length  "business  proceeded,"  it  was  said,  "more  in 
the  spirit  of  compromise,"  and  some  important  measures 
were  passed.  "^The  first  was  an  act  to  determine  the  price 
of  land,  the  form  of  conveyances  and  the  manner  of  re- 
covery of  rents  for  land,  and  the  prices  of  the  several  com- 
modities in  "which  the  same  might  be  paid."^  By  this 
act  simpler  forms  of  conveyancing  were  prescribed,  and 
payment  of  the  purchase  money  or  rent  reserved  might  be 
made  in  current  money  of  the  province,  or  in  indigo,  cotton, 
silk,  rice,  beef,  or  pork  (in  barrels  or  half -barrels),  or  in 
English  peas.  Six  appraisers  were  to  be  appointed,  three 
of  whom  were  to  be  nominated  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  and  the  other  three  by  the  Commons,  to  fix  and 
determine  the  value  at  which  these  commodities  should  be 
received  in  payment.  Lands  rented  were  to  be  held  at  a 
penny  an  acre,  or  the  value  thereof  in  the  above  commodi- 
ties. In  case  of  non-payment  of  the  quit-rents  the  Receiver 
of  the  Lords  Proprietors  might  distrain,  and  bring  an  ac- 
tion in  court  for  recovery.  Land  should  not  revert  to  the 
Proprietors  unless  payments  were  delayed  for  seven  years. 
All  former  grants  or  purchases  from  authorized  agents, 
notwithstanding  any  legal  defects  in  the  conveyances,  were 
confirmed  to  their  possessors. 

To  encourage  the  peopling  of  the  colony,  grants  were  to 
be  given  without  delay.  New  settlers  were  exempt  from 
rent  for  five  years.     To  all  who  wished  to  purchase,  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  182,  citing  Journals. 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  96. 


284  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

price  of  land  was  reduced  as  allowed  to  <£20  per  1000  acres, 
with  a  rent  of  12  pence  per  100  acres,  and  not  forfeitable 
till  non-payment  for  twenty-one  years. 

Several  acts  relating  to  the  domestic  affairs  of  the 
colony  were  passed.  The  settlements  so  far  were  princi- 
pally upon  the  rivers  and  bays  with  which  the  low  country 
of  Carolina  is  everywhere  intersected,  and  transportation 
was  almost  entirely  by  water ;  boats  and  canoes  were  not 
only,  therefore,  peculiarly  valuable  as  the  means  of  trans- 
portation, but  were  also  peculiarly  liable  to  theft :  an  act 
was  passed  on  the  subject,  providing  specially  for  the 
punishment  for  the  stealing  or  letting  loose  of  any  boat 
or  canoe.  By  this  law  a  white  freeman  or  servant  was 
to  be  punished  by  a  fine,  whilst  the  Indian  for  the  same 
offence  was  included  with  the  slave  and  was  to  receive 
thirty-nine  lashes,  and  for  a  second  offence  was  to  have  his 
ears  cut  off.^ 

A  curious  act  was  one  providing  "  for  the  destroying  of 
unmarked  cattle."  A  considerable  business  of  the  colony, 
at  this  time  was  in  the  rearing  of  "black  cattle."  Cattle 
turned  loose  in  the  rich  swamps,  while  deteriorating  in  size, 
multiplied  in  great  numbers.  These  were  watched  and 
marked  by  their  owners,  and  when  fit  for  market  were 
butchered  and  salted  and  shipped  to  Barbadoes  and  other 
West  India  islands.  This  act  recited  that  a  great  number 
of  trees  had  been  blown  down  by  the  violence  of  a  late 
hurricane,  which  made  the  woods  difficult  to  be  traversed, 
whereby  many  persons  had  been  prevented  from  bringing 
their  cattle  to  their  pens  and  marking  them  as  they  were 
accustomed,  and  that,  in  consequence,  many  evil-minded 
persons  had  taken  upon  them  to  kill  and  destroy  great 
numbers  of  them.  The  act  provided  for  a  system  of 
licensing  persons  to  kill  unmarked  cattle,  and  punishing 
1  Statutes,  vol.  II,  105. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  285 

any  one  for  so  doing  without  a  certificate  from  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace.^ 

Archdale  prided  himself  greatly  upon  his  management  of 
Indian  affairs  and  upon  the  humanity  with  which  he  treated 
them  ;  and  his  administration  has  been  commended  particu- 
larly on  this  account.^  And  yet  we  have  just  seen  the  Indian 
punished  by  whipping  and  mutilation  for  stealing  boats, 
for  which  the  white  man  was  only  fined,  and  shall  further 
see  among  the  enactments  of  this  mild  administration  in 
regard  to  these  poor  people  one  requiring  "  every  Indian 
bowman  capable  of  killing  deere,"  before  the  25th  of 
November  in  every  year,  to  bring  to  such  person  as  the 
Governor  should  appoint  to  receive  the  same  "  one  woolfes 
skinn  one  tigers  skinn  or  one  beare  skinn,  or  two  catt 
skinns,"  and  if  any  one  did  not  do  so,  the  Cacique  or  Chief 
of  his  nation  was  required  to  bring  him  to  Charles  Town 
before  the  25th  of  December,  there  to  be  severely  whipped 
on  his  bare  back  in  the  sight  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
said  town,  which  whipping,  the  act  says,  should  be  in  the 
place  of  that  skin  which  the  Indian  ought  to  have  given 
to  the  receiver. 3  In  one  respect,  however,  Archdale 
moderated  the  restriction  against  the  Indians.  Sothell 
had  forbidden,  under  severe  penalties,  firearms  and  rum 
to  be  given  them.  Archdale  allowed  them  a  pound  of 
powder  and  thirty  bullets  for  each  destructive  beast  they 
killed  beyond  the  yearly  tax. 

During  Smith's  short  administration,  an  act  had  been 
passed  in  1693  regulating  public  houses  ;  but  the  act  has 
been  lost  and  there  is  no  copy  of  it.  So  Archdale  has  the 
honor  of  the  first  act  of  which  we  have  a  record  regulating 
the  sale  of  liquor  in  Carolina.     The  act  prohibits  the  sale, 

1  Statutes,  vol.  II,  106. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  132. 
8  Statutes,  vol.  II,  108. 


286  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

except  by  license  from  the  Governor,  of  any  beer,  cider, 
wine,  brandy,  rum,  punch,  or  any  strong  drink  whatsoever, 
under  the  quantity  of  one  gallon  at  one  draught;  and 
puts  in  force  all  the  laws  of  England,  both  statute  and 
common,  concernihg  the  abuses  and  disorders  of  taverns.^ 

A  beneficent  measure  of  Archdale's  administration  was 
the  inauguration  of  provision  for  the  poor.  Commissioners 
were  appointed  to  receive  contributions  and  gifts  of  charity, 
and,  though  to  a  very  small  extent,  to  draw  from  the  public 
treasury  for  the  support  of  the  indigent.^ 

Archdale  showed  more  humanity  in  settling  disputes 
between  the  Indians,  and  in  his  conduct  to  those  at  a  dis- 
tance, than  in  the  laws  he  provided  for  governing  those 
who  were  near.  He  released  from  captivity  four  Indians 
and  sent  them  back  to  their  tribe  near  St.  Augustine  with 
a  friendly  letter  to  the  Spanish  Governor,  who  was  induced 
thereby  to  act  kindly  in  return  to  some  Englishmen  ship- 
wrecked on  the  Florida  coast.  In  another  instance  his 
taking  under  his  protection  a  party  of  Indians  at  war  with 
others  was  rewarded  by  the  saving  of  a  party  of  fifty-two 
New  Englanders  who  had  been  cast  away  at  Cape  Fear, 
for  whom  Archdale  sent  a  vessel  and  brought  them  safely 
to  Charles  Town.^  These  were  the  founders  of  Wappetaw 
Congregationalist  Church,  in  what  was  afterwards  Christ 
Church  parish,  and  whom  we  shall  find  in  a  few  years  resist- 
ing the  landing  of  the  French  at  Sewee.* 

Archdale,  yielding  to  the  opinions  of  the  people,  left  the 
Indian  trade  and  the  condition  of  the  Huguenots  as  he 
found  them,  but  advised,  with  regard  to  the  latter,  the 
plan  which  was  afterwards  adopted.     He  seemed  afraid 

1  Statutes,  vol.  II,  113. 

^Ihid.,  116. 

«  Archdale,  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  108,  109. 

*  Ihid.,  105,  note  ;  Howe's  Hist.  Presh.  Ch.,  119. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  287 

lest  he  should  do  too  much,  and  leaving  many  things 
undone  which  required  attention,  he  hastened  from  the 
colony,  appointing,  under  the  power  of  his  commission,  his 
friend,  Joseph  Blake,  Deputy  Governor.^ 

Upon  Archdale's  departure,  the  Commons  were  pro- 
fuse in  their  acknowledgments  of  their  appreciation  of 
his  services.  Through  Jonathan  Amory,  their  Speaker, 
they  made  an  "  humble  address  and  recognition  of  thanks  " 
to  the  Lords  Proprietors  for  their  gracious  condescension 
in  sending  him  out  with  such  large  and  ample  powers,  for 
the  remission  of  some  arreai-s  of  rents,  and  for  the  undeni- 
able manifestation  of  their  Honor's  parental  care ;  and  to 
Archdale  himself  for  the  prudent,  industrious,  and  inde- 
fatigable care  and  management  of  the  powers  intrusted 
to  him.  The  acts  of  grace  he  had  so  reasonably  conde- 
scended to  grant  had  removed  all  doubts,  jealousies,  and 
discouragements  of  the  people,  and  had  laid  a  most  sure 
foundation  on  which  might  be  erected  a  most  glorious 
superstructure,^  etc.  These  were  but  empty  words.  The 
radical  differences  between  the  Proprietoi-s  and  the  colo- 
nists were  not  removed  and  were  soon  to  break  out  afresh. 
Archdale,  however,  having  arranged  mattere  to  his  own 
satisfaction,  received  the  address  with  great  complacency, 
and  promised  to  present  it  to  the  Proprietors  on  his  arrival 
in  England.^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  185. 

2  Archdale,  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  104. 
8  Hewatt,  vol.  I,  137. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

1696-99 

Joseph  Blake,  whom  Archdale  under  his  power  ap- 
pointed Deputy  Governor  upon  his  departure,  was  the  son 
of  Benjamin  Blake,  the  immigrant  who  had  come  out  with 
Axtell  and  Morton.  He  had  been  a  Deputy,  one  of  those 
whom  Sothell  had  removed,  and  whose  return  to  office  the 
Proprietors  had  required;  and  as  Deputy  he  had  been 
chosen  by  the  Council  as  Governor,  when  Smith  gave  up 
the  office  in  disgust.  He  had  already,  therefore,  had  a 
short  administration,  and  was  now  about  to  enter  upon 
the  longest  term  of  any  but  Governor  West's,  whose  ad- 
ministration, indeed,  his  very  much  resembled  in  its  quiet, 
peaceful,  and  useful  conduct  of  affairs.  On  the  25th  of 
April,  1697,  the  Proprietors  made  him  a  Landgrave  and 
expressed  their  satisfaction  at  his  appointment  by  Mr. 
Archdale,!  —  an  appointment,  however,  which,  as  we  shall 
see,  they  afterwards  found  it  convenient  to  disown. 

The  most  important  act  of  his  administration  was  the 
naturalization  and  enfranchisement  of  the  Huguenots. 
The  antipathies  of  the  English  colonists  to  the  French 
emigrants  —  because  of  their  nationality  refugees  from 
their  country  though  they  were  —  had  at  first  been  very 
great;  but  these  now  began  to  abate.  From  the  quiet 
and  inoffensive  behavior  of  the  Huguenots,  their  industry 
and  success  in  the  settlement  of  a  part  of  the  province 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  141. 
288 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  289 

which  had  hitherto  been  avoided  by  the  English,  more 
kindly  feeling  began  to  be  entertained  in  regard  to  them. 
Though  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick  had  not  yet  been  actually 
made,  the  opposition  of  France  to  the  recognition  of 
William  was  gradually  subsiding,  and  the  war  between 
England  and  France  was  nearing  an  end.  This,  no  doubt, 
in  a  great  measure  tended  to  soften  the  sentiment  of 
hostility  to  the  French  in  Carolina.  At  this  favorable 
juncture,  by  the  advice  of  the  Governor  and  other  friends, 
the*  Huguenots  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  to  be 
incorporated  with  the  freemen  of  the  colony,  and  to  be 
allowed  the  same  privileges  and  liberties  with  those  born 
of  English  parents.  The  Assembly  listened  to  the  appeal, 
and  adopted  "  an  act  for  the  making  aliens  free  of  this  part 
of  the  province  and  granting  liberty  of  conscience  to  all 
protestants.""  The  preamble  to  this  act  recited  that  perse- 
cution for  religion  had  forced  some  aliens,  and  trade  and 
the  fertility  of  the  province  had  encouraged  others,  to  resort 
to  the  colony,  who  had  given  good  testimony  of  their  duty 
and  loyalty  to  his  Majesty  and  the  Crown  of  England,  of 
their  fidelity  to  the  Lords  Proprietoi-s,  of  their  good  affec- 
tions to  the  inhabitants,  and  by  their  industry,  diligence, 
and  trade  had  very  much  enriched  and  advanced  the  set- 
tlement; and  the  act  provided  that  all  alien  inhabitants 
of  the  province  should  be  entitled  to  enjoy  the  same  privi- 
leges as  those  born  of  English  parents,  and  to  hold  lands 
and  claim  the  same  as  heirs  or  by  their  own  purchase, 
upon  the  condition  that  such  persons  should  within  three 
months  petition  the  Governor  and  Lords  Proprietors  for 
the  benefit  of  its  provisions,  and  should  also  make  oath  of 
allegiance  to  his  Majesty  King  William.  The  act  names 
and  enfranchises  those  who  had  joined  in  the  petition  to 
the  Assembly.  It  went  on  also  further  to  provide  that 
as  "several"  of  the  present  inhabitants  had  transported 


290  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

themselves  into  the  province  in  hopes  of  enjoying  the 
liberty  of  their  conscience  according  to  their  own  persua- 
sion under  the  Royal  charter  of  King  Charles  the  Second, 
of  blessed  memory,  all  Christians  who  were  then  in  the 
province,  or  might  thereafter  come  (Papists  only  excepted), 
should  enjoy  the  full,  free,  and  undisturbed  liberty  of  their 
consciences,  and  exercise  their  worship  according  to  the 
professed  rules  of  their  religion  without  let  or  hindrance.^ 

Blake  had  thus  easily  induced  the  Assembly  to  do,  of 
their  own  accord,  this  justice  to  the  Huguenots  which 
Sothell  had  endeavored  to  force  upon  them  by  his  author- 
ity, and  Archdale  had  not  ventured  to  ask.  He  had 
secured  them  equal  rights  and  representation  with  Eng- 
lishmen. 

Governor  Archdale  had  not  availed  himself,  to  any 
great  extent,  of  the  powers  in  his  commission  to  alter 
existing  laws.  Upon  his  return  to  England,  the  Proprie- 
tors themselves,  however,  took  up  the  subject.  In  the 
meanwhile,  the  old  Earl  of  Craven,  the  third  Palatine,  had 
died  April  9,  1697 ;  and  John  Granville,  Earl  of  Bath, 
who  had  just  established  hia  title  to  the  original  share  of 
the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  being  the  eldest  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors,  succeeded  him  as  fourth  Palatine.  The  pro- 
prietorship of  Earl  Craven  had  descended  to  his  son 
William,  Lord  Craven.^  The  Proprietors  had,  on  the  22d 
of  August,  made  Thomas  Amy  a  Landgrave ;  ^  but  they 
wished  now  to  transfer  the  share  which  he  held  in  trust, 
i.e.  that  purchased  from  Lady  Berkeley,  to  some  person 
likely  to  strengthen  their  interest  at  court,  yet  not 
to   lose  so  valuable   a  person,   they  transferred  to  Amy 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  131. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  141 ;  Collins's  Peerage,  vol.  VII, 
146. 

8  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  141,  142. 


tJKDER   ^HEl   PROPRIEtARlT   GOVERNMENT  29l 

the  proprietorship  of  Seth  Sothell,  which  they  had  ap- 
propriated,^ and,  for  the  present,  transferred  the  trust  in 
the  Berkeley  share  to  Mr.  Thornburgh,  who  now  repre- 
sented at  the  board  not  only  the  Colleton  share,  but  this 
as  well.2  The  imbecile  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  represented 
by  his  son  Anthony,  Lord  Ashley;  and  the  minor  Lord 
Carteret  by  the  Earl  of  Bath.  The  board  was  thus  re- 
duced to  six  members :  the  Earl -of  Bath,  Lord  Craven,  Lord 
Ashley,  and  Messrs.  Thornburgh,  Amy,  and  Archdale. 
Thus  constituted,  it  made  another  effort  to  impose  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  but  in  a  revised  form.  With 
the  aid  of  Major  Daniel  and  Captain  Bellinger,  who  were 
in  England,^  the  articles  were  reduced  to  fortj'-one  by  the 
omission  of  those  relating  to  manoi*s  and  leet-men,  the  cum- 
brous system  of  courts  and  their  dignitaries,  etc.  The 
new  Constitutions  made  no  alterations  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion, still  provided  for  the  creation  of  Landgraves  and 
Caciques  to  form  the  Upper  House  of  Parliament,  limiting 
them,  however,  to  half  the  number  of  the  Commons,  made 
the  Governor  and  Council  the  Palatine  Court,  and  con- 
tinued to  proclaim  that  property  was  the  foundation  of 
"all  power  and  dominion  in  Carolina."  These  Constitu- 
tions were  signed  April  11, 1698,  by  Bath,  Palatine,  Ashley, 
Craven,  Thornburgh,  and  Am}^ 

The  nobility  which,  under  the  Royal  charter,  the  Pro- 
prietors were  empowered  to  institute,  as  we  have  before 
pointed  out,  was  intended  to  be  a  provincial  nobility.  The 
authority  given  the  Proprietors  to  confer  marks  of  favor 
and  titles  of  honor  was  explicitly  limited  to  such  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  province  as  should  merit  such  rewards.* 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  143. 

2  Danson  v.  Trott,  supra. 

3  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  146. 
*  Ante,  p.  61. 


^9^  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLIiJA 

But  regardless  alike  of  the  purpose  and  limitation  of  their 
authority,  the  Proprietors  had,  up  to  this  time,  conferred 
the  title  of  Landgrave  upon  no  inhabitant  of  the  province 
except  as  an  appendage  or  qualification  to  that  of  Gov- 
ernor, in  the  cases  of  West,  Smith,  and  Blake.  The  eleven 
Landgraves  had  been  appointed  while  they  v^^ere  in  Eng- 
land or  Barbadoes,  from  favor  or  for  services  rendered  in 
those  places,  such  as  Locke's  for  drawing  the  Constitutions, 
as  Axtell's  and  Morton's  in  inducing  immigration,  and  as 
Amy's  at  the  Carolina  Coffee  House.  To  propitiate  the 
opposition  to  the  Constitutions  in  Carolina,  the  Proprie- 
tors fell  upon  the  plan  of  putting  these  titles  of  nobility 
within  the  reach  of  the  colonists  by  purchase.  They  sent 
out  the  new  Constitutions  by  Major  Robert  Daniel,  the 
same  Robert  Daniel  they  had  excluded  from  the  general 
pardon  because  of  his  connection  with  the  revolt  against 
Colleton  in  1692,  and  with  them  they  sent  also  patents  for 
six  Landgraves  and  eight  Caciques,  to  be  sold  to  such  per- 
sons of  worth  as  Landgrave  Morton  and  he  should  deem 
worthy.  They  were  to  receive  from  each  Landgrave 
".£100  (equal  to,  probably,  $2000),  and  from  each 
Cacique  £60  ($1000). i  Captain  Edmund  Bellinger 
purchased  a  patent  for  Landgrave  in  England,  for 
which  he  was  to  pay  XlOO  in  Carolina,  and  one  John 
Bayly  purchased  another,  for  which  he  was  to  pay  <£100  in 
Ireland.^  Robert  Daniel  was  made  a  Landgrave  without 
purchase.  Asa  still  more  substantial  favor,  the  Proprietors 
made  over  to  Governor  Joseph  Blake  the  proprietorship 
of  Lord  Berkeley's  which  they  had  appropriated.  The 
grant  bears  date  the  same  day  as  the  Revised  Constitu- 
tions.^ 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  155. 

^Ibid.,  147. 

*  Danson  v.  Trott^  supra. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  293 

The  Assembly  in  Carolina  were,  however,  not  so  easily 
to  be  cajoled.  After  several  weeks  had  passed,  the  As- 
sembly requested  the  Governor  and  Council  to  inform 
them  if  they  had  power  to  alter  and  amend  the  proposed 
form  of  government,  and  were  told  they  had  not.  They 
then  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Captain  Job 
Howes,  Ralph  Izard,  and  Dr.  Charles  Burnham,  to  look 
into  the  matter.  The  committee  reported,  denying  legisla- 
tive power  to  Landgraves  and  Caciques  as  an  order; 
recommending  that  baronies  be  reduced  to  a  smaller  ex- 
tent of  land ;  demanding  that,  throughout  the  colony, 
lands  should  be  secured  to  the  people  at  the  present  rate  of 
rent  and  purchase,  and  that  no  freeholder  of  a  certain 
quantity  of  land  should  be  liable  to  arrest  in  civil  cases. 
These  demands  the  Proprietors  refused,  and  the  Constitu- 
tions were  again  laid  aside.^ 

Edward  Randolph,  the  Collector  of  the  King's  customs 
in  America,  had  been  complaining  of  the  neglect  and  vio- 
lation of  the  navigation  acts  and  of  the  favor  shown 
pirates  not  only  in  Carolina,  but  in  all  the  colonics, 
had  been  urging  the  King  to  suppress  all  the  Proprietary 
governments,  and  had  suggested  a  scheme  for  consolidat- 
ing all  the  English  provinces.  South  Carolina  and  the 
Bahama  Islands  he  recommended  should  be  put  under  his 
Majesty's  immediate  authority ;  that  North  Carolina  should 
be  annexed  to  Virginia ;  the  three  lower  counties  of  Dela- 
ware to  be  annexed  to  Maryland;  the  province  of  West 
Jersey  to  Pennsylvania ;  East  Jereey  to  New  York ;  and 
Rhode  Island  to  Massachusetts.^  This  grand  scheme  for  the 
reduction  and  consolidation  of  the  colonies  did  not  suc- 
ceed ;  but  his  agitation  of  the  subject  caused  the  passage 
of  an  act  of  Parliament,  in  1695,  for  preventing  frauds  and 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  187. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  141. 


294  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

regulating  abuses  in  the  plantation  trade.  This  act, 
which  was  a  reenactment  of  the  navigation  laws  in  more 
stringent  form,  required  the  Proprietors  of  all  the  Pro- 
prietary governments  to  submit  to  the  King,  for  his 
Majesty's  approval,  the  appointments  of  Governors  they 
proposed  to  make,  and  the  Governors  when  so  appointed 
were  required  to  take  oaths  to  observe  the  acts  in  regard 
to  the  plantation  trade  ;  and  all  officers  appointed  by  the 
Governor  to  perform  duties  under  these  acts  were  re- 
quired to  give  security  to  the  commissioners  of  customs  in 
England.! 

Randolph  saw,  even  at  this  early  day,  that  resistance  to 
the  navigation  laws  would  end  in  independence,  and  be- 
lieved that  even  then  that  was  its  purpose.  He  thought 
the  government  in  America  too  loose,  and  desired  to'  have 
their  bonds  to  that  at  home  drawn  in  and  strengthened. 
He  advised  that  fit  persons  should  be  appointed  Governors 
of  Carolina  and  Pennsylvania,  to  prevent  the  illegal  trade 
carried  on  by  Scotchmen  and  others  in  vessels  belonging 
to  New  England  and  Pennsylvania ;  and  that  a  Court  of 
Admiralty  with  a  Judge,  a  Register,  a  Marshal,  and  an 
Attorney  General  should  be  appointed  in  each  colony  to 
enforce  the  act  of  Parliament  just  passed  to  prevent  frauds 
in  the  plantations.^  The  Lords  of  Trade  approved  his 
suggestion  as  to  the  establishment  of  Courts  of  Admiralty, 
and  directed  him  to  nominate  fit  persons  for  these  offices.^ 
He  recommended  the  appointment  of  one  person  as  Attor- 
ney General  for  the  colonies  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  Penn- 
sylvania, North  Carolina,  and  West  Jersey;  of  another, 
for  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire ;  and 
of  another,  for  New  York,  East  Jersey,  and  Connecticut. 
He  made  no  recommendation  for  South  Carolina.^ 

1  Statutes  of  the  Bealm,  vol.  VII,  103.  »  Ibid,  462,  463. 

2  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  461.  *  Ibid.,  463,  464. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  295 

He  again  addressed  the  commissioners  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1696 :  ^  — 

"  The  chief  end  of  granting  these  vast  tracts  of  land  (now  called 
proprieties)  to  noblemen  and  others,"  he  wrote,  "was  doubtless  to 
encourage  the  first  undertakers  to  plant  &  improve  them  for  the 
benefitt  of  the  Crowne,  &  to  be  always  subject  &  depending  on 
England  &  conformable  to  the  Laws  thereof.  Great  numbers  of 
people  are  now  seated  in  some  of  these  proprieties  but  have  been  long 
endeavoring  to  break  loose  &  set  up  for  themselves  having  no  sort 
of  regard  to  the  Acts  of  Trade,  and  discountenancing  appeals  from 
their  Courts  to  his  Majesty  in  Councill.  The  persons  appointed  by  the 
Proprietors  to  be  their  Governors  are  generally  men  of  very  indiffer- 
ent qualifications  for  parts  &  Estates.  Their  maintenance  is  incon- 
siderable which  renders  their  Government  precarious  also,"  etc. 

But  it  was  not  only  in  regard  to  the  customs  that  Ran- 
dolph complained.  He  was  most  sweeping  and  reckless 
in  his  charges  against  the  colonies  for  harboring  pirates. 
The  Bahama  Islands,  of  which  Nicholas  Trott  was  then 
Governor,  had  been  and  were,  he  said,  a  common  retreat 
for  pirates  and  illegal  traders.  Charles  Town  in  Carolina, 
of  which  Mr.  John  Archdale,  a  Quaker,  was  Governor,  as 
one  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  during  his  son's  minority ,2 
was  free  for  trade  to  all  places.     He  wrote :  — 

"They  trade  to  Carasaw,* from  whence  the  Manufacture  of  Holland 
is  brought  to  Charles  Towne  and  carryed  by  New  England  men  and 
other  illegal  traders  to  Pennsylvania  Boston  etc  :  and  returns  are 
made  for  them  in  Plantation  Commodities  which  are  carryed  from 
Carolina  to  Carasaw  and  thence  to  Holland ;  about  3  years  ago 
70  pirates  having  run  away  with  a  vessel  from  Jamaica  came  to 
Charles  Towne  bringing  with  them  a  vast  quantity  of  Gold  from  the 
Red  Sea,  they  were  entertained  and  had  liberty  to  stay  or  goe  to 
any  other  place.      The  vessell  was  seized  by  the  Governor  for  the 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  466. 

2  It  will  be  recollected  Archdale  had  taken  the  title  to  Sir  William 
Berkeley's  share,  which  he  had  purchased  from  Lady  Berkeley  in  his 
son's  name. 

8  Cura9oa  ? 


296  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Proprietors  as  a  Wreck  &  sold,  they  have  no  regard  to  the  Acts 
of  Trade.  The  present  Governor  (Archdale)  is  a  favourer  of  the 
illegal  trade,"  etc. 

The  inlets  of  Carituck  and  Roanoke,  he  charged,  were 
the  resorts  of  pirates  and  runaway  servants  from  Virginia. 
The  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  entertained  pirates  from  the 
Red  and  South  seas.  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  was  a 
free  port  to  illegal  traders  and  pirates  from  all  places,  etc. 

The  Commissioners  of  Trade  called  on  the  Proprietors 
of  the  various  colonies  to  answer  these  charges,  and  the 
Proprietors  of  Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  the  Jersej^s,  and 
Connecticut  did  so.  Protesting  their  loyalty,  but  resting 
their  rights  under  their  grants,  they  claimed  that  their 
charter  implied  the  grant  of  the  Admiral's  jurisdiction  and 
power  of  erecting  Courts  of  Admiralty  and  constituting 
judges  and  officers  for  them.  The  reason  they  had  not 
hitherto  erected  such  courts  was  that  under  the  acts  of 
Parliament  violations  of  the  navigation  acts  were  cogniza- 
ble in  the  common-law  courts,  and  the  establishment  of 
Courts  of  Admiralty  would  have  occasioned  salaries  and 
other  great  and  expensive  charges.  They  apprehended 
that  there  was  no  necessity  for  such  courts,  unless  for  the 
condemnation  of  prizes,  few  or  none  of  which  had  been 
brought  into  the  provinces.  They  were,  nevertheless, 
ready  and  willing,  they  said,  to  erect  such  courts  if  re- 
quired.i 

The  Board  of  Trade,  however,  insisted  upon  his  Majesty's 
right  to  his  own  Courts  of  Admiralty,  notwithstanding  the 
charters ;  whereupon  the  Proprietors  wisely  gave  up  their 
claim  of  right  and  prayed  that  the  Governors  of  the  several 
provinces  might  have  commissions  to  be  Vice  Admirals  with 
the  same  powers  as  the  Governors  of  the  provinces  under 
Royal  authority .2  But  this  his  Majesty  was  not  willing  to 
1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  471.  2  /^jc^.^  473. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  297 

allow.  The  Board  of  Trade  preferred  to  look  after  the 
enforcement  of  the  navigation  acts  themselves,  and  to  ap- 
point their  own  Courts  of  Admiralty.  In  the  persons  to 
constitute  the  court,  however,  the  preferences  of  the  Pro- 
prietors were  evidently  consulted.  Sir  Charles  Hedges, 
Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty,  on  the  29th  of 
April,  1697-98,  appointed  as  admiralty  officers  for  South 
Carolina  Joseph  Morton,  late  Governor,  Judge ;  Thomas 
Cary,  Archdale's  son-in-law.  Register;  Jonathan  Amory, 
Speaker  of  the  Commons,  Advocate,  and  R. 'Pollinger 
Marshal.^ 

Another  turn  was  taken  against  the  Proprietary  govern- 
ments. The  act  of  1695  had  required  that  his  Majesty's 
approval  should  be  obtained  for  the  appointment  of  their 
Governors,  but  now  it  was  further  required  that  the  Gov- 
ernor of  any  Proprietary  province  should  give  bond  in  a 
penalty  of  not  less  than  X2000  nor  more  than  X5000 
(i.e.  from  $40,000  to  ilOO,000),  according  to  the  trade  of 
the  province,  for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  navigation 
acts.  The  Proprietors  protested  that  this  was  unnecessary 
since  the  recent  act  requiring  the  approval  of  the  King  for 
the  appointment  of  a  Governor.  The  objection  was  over- 
ruled and  the  bond  was  required.^ 

The  Proprietors  now  found  it  necessary  to  pay  some 
attention  to  their  courts  in  Carolina,  and  to  provide  some- 
thing better  for  the  administration  of  justice  than  a  Judge 
and  Sheriff  combined,  without  a  prosecuting  officer.  They 
appointed  and  sent  out  a  Chief  Justice  and  an  Attorney 
General.  The  Attorney  General  was  first  commissioned. 
This  was  the  same  Nicholas  Trott  who  had  been  Governor 
of  the  Bahamas,  and  whom  Randolph  had  denounced  as  a 
harborer  of  pirates  ;  and  as  if  in  defiance  of  this  accusation, 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  207. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  476,  477,  557. 


298  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Trott  was  not  only  appointed  Attorney  General,  but  Ad- 
vocate General  of  Admiralty  and  Naval  officer.  He  was 
commissioned  as  Attorney  General  February  5,  1697-98, 
and  a  month  after  his  instructions  were  made  out.  His 
duties  were  prescribed  to  be :  to  communicate  such  in- 
structions to  the  Governor  and  Council  as  were  requisite ; 
to  peruse  the  acts  of  Assembly  before  confirmation,  so 
as  to  see  that  they  were  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
England,  and  to  report  the  same  to  the  Lords  Proprietors. 
He  was  to  prosecute  and  take  care  of  all  matters  criminal ; 
to  advise  and  consult  with  the  Collectors  of  the  King's 
customs,  and  the  better  to  secure  the  King's  customs  they 
constituted  him  also  Naval  officer.  He  was  instructed  to 
inquire  into  the  Indian  trade  and  its  abuses.  He  was  to 
be  allowed  access  to  all  public  records  in  the  grantings 
of  office,  and  of  all  documents  whatsoever.  His  salary 
was  fixed  at  X40  (i,e.  about  1800)  per  annum.  As 
Naval  officer  he  was  to  make  entries  of  all  ships  inward  or 
outward  bound,  to  obey  all  instructions  and  directions 
from  the  Proprietors  or  the  Commissioners  of  the  Customs. 
The  Chief  Justice  was  Edmund  Bohun,  who  was  com- 
missioned on  the  22d  of  May,  1698.  He  was  one  of  the 
few  settlers  in  Carolina  who  was  entitled  by  birth  to  be 
called  a  cavalier.  He  was  of  the  family  mentioned  by 
Macaulay  as  one  of  those  untitled  families  descended  from 
knights  who  had  broken  the  Saxon  ranks  at  Hastings  and 
scaled  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.^     Mr.  Bohun  was  a  man  of 

1  *'  There  were  untitled  men  well  known  to  be  descended  from  knights 
who  had  broken  the  Saxon  ranks  at  Hastings  and  scaled  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem.  There  were  Bohuns  Mowbrays  De  Veres  nay  kinsmen 
of  the  House  of  Plantagenet  with  no  higher  addition  than  that  of 
Esquire  and  with  no  civil  privileges  beyond  those  enjoyed,  by  every 
farmer  and  shopkeeper."  —  History  of  England^  vol.  I  (ed.  Hurd  & 
Houghton),  1878,  42  ;  Introductory  Memoir  to  Diary  and  Autobiography 
of  Edmund  Bohun. 


UNDER    THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  299 

learning ;  he  was  the  author,  compiler,  editor,-  or  translator 
of  many  books,i  but  he  was  not  a  professional  lawyer.  His 
qualifications  for  the  judicial  office  were  only  those  ac- 
quired by  experience  on  the  magisterial  bench,  on  which 
he  had  sat  for  many  years  by  no  means  regardless  of  its 
responsibilities,  and  upon  the  duties  of  which  he  had  pub- 
lished a  tract,  in  1684,  entitled  The  Justice  of  Peace^  his 
Calling :  a  Moral  Essay.  Mr.  Bohun,  bred  a  dissenter  from 
the  religion  of  the  established  church,  a  great  admirer  of 
parliaments,  and  taught  betimes  to  fear  monarchy  and  arbi- 
trary government,  became  one  of  the  sturdiest  advocates 
of  hereditary  monarchy,  but  was,  nevertheless,  a  most 
zealous  and  uncompromising  Protestant.  Upon  the  over- 
throw of  James,  he  held,  with  others,  that  the  most  sub- 
missive slaves  of  "passive  obedience  were  not  bound  to 
remain  forever  without  a  government"  or  actively  seek 
the  restoration  of  a  prince  who  had  sought  to  enslave 
the  nation  and  overthrow  the  Protestant  church.  Holding 
fast  the  theory  of  non-resistance,  he  thanked  God  that  he, 
by  his  own  "  particular  providence,  had  rejected  a  king 
who  had  notoriously  invaded  and  destroyed  all  our  civil 
and  religious  rights  and  liberties."  His  abandonment  of 
the  cause  of  James  cost  him  the  friendship  of  Archbishop 
Sancroft  and  the  loss  of  his  seat  on  the  magisterial  bench. 
But  upon  the  return  to  power  of  the  Tories  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  1690,  Mr.  Bohun  was  given  the  post  of  licenser 
of  the  press.  Here  the  perversity  of  his  character  or  fort- 
une again  asserted  itself.  While  his  known  opinions  and 
published  writings  laid  him  open  to  strong  suspicion  of 
Jacobitism  on  the  one  hand,  his  avowed  allegiance  to  Will- 
iam and  Mary  exposed  him,  on  the  other,  to  a  charge  of 
gross  inconsistency.  He  held  the  office  but  five  months. 
His  Protestant  zeal  had  occasioned  his  expulsion  from  the 
1  For  list  of  works  by  him  see  Allibone's  Dictionary  of  Authors. 


300  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

magistracy  under  James;  restored  to  it  under  William 
and  Mary,  he  was  again  removed  by  the  Whigs  because 
of  his  Toryism.  A  sincere  and  earnest  Christian,  a  scholar 
and  writer  of  great  ability,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man 
without  tact  in  the  vigorous  expression  of  his  opinions, 
to  which  misfortune  his  irascible  temper  and  the  acrimony 
of  his  style  added  bitterness.  It  is  not  known  through 
what  medium  he  obtained  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of 
South  Carolina.  His  inducement  to  seek  it  was  probably 
that  his  eldest  son,  Edmund,  had  settled  as  a  merchant  in 
the  colony.^ 

On  the  16th  of  August,  1698,  the  Proprietors  wrote  to 
Governor  Blake  and  Council :  ^  — 

"  Gentlemen :  wee  are  intent  upon  making  you  the  happy  settle- 
ment in  America ;  in  order  to  which  wee  sent  you  by  Major  Daniell 
(who  we  hope  is  safely  arrived)  constitutions  of  government  in  which 
wee  have  been  more  hearty  in  securing  your  liberty  and  property 
than  any  particular  advantages  of  our  owne.  With  him  went  a  Mr. 
Marshall  a  minister  recommended  by  us,  who  wee  hope  and  doubt 
not  will  both  by  example  and  preaching  encourage  virtue,  and  that 
he  will  not  want  encouragement  from  you.  And  because  good  laws 
without  due  exercise  are  a  dead  letter,  and  the  reputation  of  a  just 
execution  of  them  is  inviting  wee  have  commissioned  Edmund 
Bohun  Esq  a  person  who  has  had  a  very  good  reputation  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  laws  of  England  to  be  your  chief  justice  ;  who  besides 
the  advantage  of  his  owne  estate  which  will  be  transmitted  to  him  is 
allowed  by  us  a  very  good  salary  to  keep  him  beyond  the  reach  of 
temptation  of  corruption.  Gentlemen  your  very  affectionate  friends 
Bath  Palatine  "  etc. 

To  obtain  for  their  colony  a  reputation  of  the  wise  ad- 
ministration of  its  laws,  the  Proprietors  sent  out  a  mere 
Justice  of  the  Peace  of  England  as  Chief  Justice  of  the 
province  ;  and  to  secure  him  against  the  temptation  of  cor- 
ruption, they  allow  him,  as  a  very  good  salary,  j660  a  year 

1  Introductory  Memoir  to  Autobiography.  *  Ibid. 


tJNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  301 

(about  11200),  but  in  addition  to  which  there  were  also 
perquisites  of  fees  and  costs. 

John  Ely  was  commissioned  as  Receiver  General  on  the 
26th  of  July,  and  the  Governor  and  Council  were  in- 
formed of  his  appointment  at  the  same  time  as  they  were 
informed  of  the  appointment  of  the  Chief  Justice.  Mr. 
Ely  was  charged  as  Receiver  to  settle,  or  to  introduce, 
a  trade  to  North  Carolina  and  the  Bahamas,  so  as  to 
produce  a  profitable  revenue  to  Charles  Town.  He  was 
to  inform  himself  of  the  fines  imposed  upon  persons  for 
misdemeanors,  and  to  collect  the  same ;  to  inquire  con- 
cerning forfeited  and  escheated  estate ;  to  take  charge  of 
their  share  of  wrecks ;  to  get  information  in  regard  to  all 
lands  granted,  and  to  frame  a  regular  rent-roll.  He  was 
to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  officers,  to  receive  a  certain  com- 
mission himself,  and  to  present  his  accounts  once  in  every 
three  months.  At  the  same  time  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel 
Marshall  was  sent  out  and  appointed  Registrar  of  the 
colony. 

The  Proprietors  were  thus  attempting  —  in  a  niggardly 
way,  it  is  true  —  to  provide  a  better  government;  but  they 
were  becoming  a  less  and  less  influential  body.  Their 
hold  upon  the  province  was  being  weakened  and  loosened 
both  at  home  and  in  Carolina.  At  home,  in  England,  Pro- 
prietary governments  were  falling  into  disfavor,  and  the 
Royal  authorities  were  on  the  alert  to  find  some  good 
cause  of  forfeiture  or  suppression.  In  Carolina  the  colo- 
nists were  becoming  more  and  more  restive  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  weak  board,  sitting  thousands  of  miles  away,  and 
giving  to  their  vital  interests  no  regular  attention,  but  only 
the  idle  moments  of  lives  devoted  to  other  purposes. 
Randolph  had  roused  the  Board  of  Trade  at  Whitehall  to 
a  stricter  enforcement  of  the  navigation  acts,  and  the  pos- 
sibilities of  a  larger  revenue  from  his  Majesty's  customs. 


302  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

He  was  now  turning  his  attention  particularly  to  South 
Carolina,  where  he  proposed  to  make  his  residence  in  the 
winter  time  to  avoid  the  extreme  cold  of  the  northern 
plantations.^  From  Charles  Town,  on  the  16th  of  March, 
1698-99,  he  addressed  a  long  and  interesting  letter  to  the 
Commissioners  of  Trade .^  From  this  letter  it  appears 
that  Blake  had  not  been  confirmed  as  Governor  by  his 
Majesty's  order,  because  the  act  of  1695,  requiring  the 
King's  approval,  had  not  been  noticed  by  the  Proprietors. 
He  gives  an  estimate  of  the  population  as  not  above  1500 
white  men,  and  throughout  the  province  a  proportion  of 
four  negroes  to  one  white  man ;  not  more  than  1100  fami- 
lies English  and  French.  He  tells  the  story  of  the  de- 
struction of  Lord  Cardross's  colony  in  1686,  and  of  the 
projected  invasion  of  St.  Augustine,  the  design  of  which, 
he  had  heard,  was  to  establish  a  trade  with  the  Spaniards. 
He  finds  great  alarm  at  the  rumors  of  the  French  settling 
on  the  Mississippi,  "  not  far  from  the  head  of  the  Ashley 
River " ;  charges  the  Lords  Proprietors  with  neglect  in 
not  furnishing  ammunition  during  the  French  war;  pro- 
poses a  scheme  for  soldiers  to  be  sent  over  at  half  pay  for 
two  or  three  years,  then  to  maintain  themselves  (this 
could  be  done  at  small  charge  until  they  numbered 
1000) ;  submits  a  proposal  by  one  of  the  Council,  a  great 
Indian  trader  who  had  been  600  miles  up  the  country 
/  west  from  Charles  Town,  to  discover  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  in  five  or  six  months  at  an  expense  of  about 
.£400  or  £500.3  "j^jjg  gi-eat  improvement  made  in  the  prov- 
ince he  attributes  to  the  industry  and  labor  of  the  in- 
habitants. They  had  applied  themselves  to  make  such 
commodities  as  might  increase  the  revenue  of  the  Crown, 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  209. 

^Ibid.,  210;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  443. 

«  Colonel  James  Moore,  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  208. 


UNDER  THE  PROPBIETARY  GOVERNMENT  303 

as  cotton  wool,  ginger,  indigo,  etc.,  but  finding  them  not 
to  answer  the  end,  they  were  set  upon  making  pitch,  tar, 
and  turpentine,  and  planting  rice,  of  which  they  could 
make  great  quantities  if  they  had  any  encouragement 
from  England,  having  about  50,000  ^  slaves  to  be  em- 
ployed in  that  business ;  but  they  had  lost  most  of  their 
vessels,  which  were  but  small,  some  by  the  French  and 
some  by  the  Spaniards,  so  that  they  were  not  able  to  send 
those  commodities  to  England  for  a  market ;  neither  were 
there  sailors  there  to  man  their  vessels. 

He  recommends  that  his  Majesty  should,  for  a  time, 
suspend  the  duties  upon  rice,  and  should  encourage  the 
planters  to  fall  vigilantly  upon  making  pitch  and  tar,  etc. 
Charles  Town  he  represented  as  the  safest  port  for  vessels 
bound  from  the  West  Indies  to  the  northern  plantation. 
He  had  formerly  presented  their  Lordships  with  proposals 
for  supplying  England  with  pitch,  tar,  masts,  and  all  naval 
stores  from  New  England;  and  he  had  observed,  when  in 
New  York,  great  abundance  of  tar  brought  down  the 
Hudson  River,  and  great  quantities  also  from  the  colony 
of  Connecticut;  but  since  his  arrival  in  Carolina,  he  finds 
he  had  come  to  the  only  place  for  such  commodities  upon 
the  Continent  of  America.  Some  persons  had  offered  to 
deliver  in  Charles  Town  Bay,  upon  their  own  account, 
1000  barrels  of  pitch  and  as  much  tar,  others  greater  quan- 
tities, provided  they  were  paid  for  it  in  Charles  Town  in 
Lyon  dollars,^  passing  here  at  five  shillings  per  piece. 
The  season  for  making  these  commodities  in  this  province 
being  six  months  longer  than  in  Virginia  and  the  more 

1  Doubtless  a  clerical  error  or  typographical  error  for  5000. 

2  By  act  of  1694,  fixing  the  value  of  Spanish  coins,  it  was  enacted 
"  that  pieces  of  eight  of  the  coyne  of  Mexico  Pillar  .  .  .  Peru  Lion 
dollar  and  other  coynes  containing  full  thirteen  penny  weight  troy  and 
upwards  shall  be  currante  money  and  pass  in  this  part  of  this  province  at 
five  shillings  the  piece  of  eight,"  etc.  —  2  Statute,  95. 


^04  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

northern  plantations,  a  planter  here  could  make  more 
tar  in  one  year  with  fifty  slaves  than  the  inhabitants  of 
northern  plantations  could  do  with  double  the  number  in 
those  places,  these  slaves  living  here  at  very  easy  rates  and 
with  few  clothes.  He  encloses  a  statement  of  the  number 
of  French  Protestants  living  in  Carolina,  which  he  had 
received  from  Mr.  Girard.  He  finds  these  people  industri- 
ous and  good  husbandmen ;  but  they  were  discouraged  be- 
cause they  were  denied  the  benefit  of  being  the  owner  and 
master  of  vessels  which  other  subjects  of  his  Majesty's 
plantation  enjoyed.  He  concludes  his  account  of  Carolina 
by  saying  that,  if  the  place  was  duly  encouraged,  it  would 
be  the  most  useful  to  the  Crown  of  all  the  plantations 
upon  the  Continent  of  America. 

The  new  courts  did  not  work  smoothly.  A  vessel  was 
seized  and  condemned  in  the  Court  of  Admiralty  as  a 
prize ;  Morton,  the  Judge,  refusing  to  receive  the  evidence 
of  witnesses  that  it  was  owned  by  English  subjects  and  over- 
ruling all  defences.  Randolph,  as  usual  putting  the  worst 
construction  upon  the  affair,  charged  corruption,  in  which 
he  implicated  the  Judge  in  Admiralty  and  the  Governor, 
his  brother-in-law.  The  matter  was  taken  up  in  England 
and  gave  considerable  trduble.^  As  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from,  the  over  punctiliousness  and  scrupulosity  of 
the  new  Chief  Justice,  and  his  general  unfitness  for  such 
a  position  amidst  the  discordant  elements  of  the  colony, 
with  the  meddlesome  Randolph  at  hand  to  be  stirring 
up  new  difficulties,  Mr.  Bohun  was  soon  in  as  much 
trouble  in  Carolina  as  he  had  been  at  home.  He  was  at 
once  in  as  much  opposition  to  Governor  Blake  as  he  had 
been  first  to  King  James,  and  then  to  King  William.  Nor 
did  he  find  the  colonists  of   Carolina  any  more  disposed 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  200,  201 ;  Colonial  Becords  of 
No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  546. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  305 

to  acquiesce  in  his  assumption  of  superior  morals  than 
had  been  the  Whigs  or  Tories  in  England. 

We  have  no  record  of  the  immediate  occasion  of  the 
difficulty  which  arose,  but  it  is  apparent  that  the  attempt 
two  hundred  years  ago  to  establish  in  Carolina  a  dual  gov- 
ernment, with  a  dual  system  of  judicature,  gave  rise  at 
once  to  jealousies  and  collisions  as  it  has  done  afterwards 
in  our  own  times  under  the  Federal  and  State  constitu- 
tions. The  Lords  Proprietors  duly  forwarded  to  their 
Governor  and  Council  the  orders  and  instructions  of  the 
Royal  Government  relating  to  the  trade  and  navigation 
laws  with  instructions  to  observe  them,  and  to  pay  all  due 
respect  to  his  Majesty's  officers ;  but  tliey  were  very  jeal- 
ous of  the  Court  of  Admiralty,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
express  their  chagrin  that  Landgrave  Morton,  one  of  their 
Council,  should  have  accepted  a  commission  from  any 
other  source  than  themselves,  even  though  it  was  that  of 
a  judicial  office  from  his  Majesty  himself.^ 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1699,  the  Proprietors  address 
two  letters,  one  to  the  Governor  and  Council  and  the  other 
to  the  Chief  Justice. 

To  the  former  they  write  :  ^  — 

"  Gentlemen :  wee  are  not  willing  to  let  any  ship  goe  from  hence 
without  a  line  from  us.  And  truly  you  do  manage  matters  on  all 
hands  that  wee  have  occassion  more  than  enough.  We  are  sorry  that 
the  sincere  love  and  hearty  care  wee  have  for  our  colony  should  pro- 
duce no  better  effect,  and  wonder  you  can't  see  the  benefit  that  will 
always  accrue  to  you  and  your  posterity  by  a  judge  who  does  not  de- 
pend on  the  will  and  pleasure  of  a  governor.  For  as  we  will  not  act. 
arbitrarily  ourselves,  so  we  will  always  endeavour  that  nobody  shall. 
Wee  expected  that  you  and  our  councill  should  have  countenanced  our 
judge  ;  but  wee  easily  discerne  that  you  raise  him  all  the  enemys  and 
troubles  that  you  can,  and  in  some  things  in  an  extraordinary  way 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  148,  149. 

2  Note  to  Introductory  Memoir  to  Autobiography  of  Edmund  Bohun. 


806  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

to  say  no  otherwise  of  it.  Not  that  wee  judge  him  altogether 
blameless  ;  but  there  have  been  faults  on  all  hands.  And  wee  expect 
and  earnestly  desire  that  which  is  past  may  be  forgot  and  that 
for  the  future  you  will  give  him  due  encouragement  and  assistance  as 
we  shall  require  of  him  to  carry  himself  with  all  respect  to  you  and 
justice  and  kindness  to  the  people.  Gentlemen  your  very  affectionate 
friends.     Bath  palatine,"  etc. 

To  the  latter  they  write :  — 

"  Sir :  wee  are  sorry  you  have  not  met  with  the  encouragement  and 
assistance  wee  designed  you  should  have  had  and  which  for  the  future 
will  be  given  to  you ;  but  can't  omitt  to  tell  you  that  you  likewise 
have  been  to  blame  and  have  done  things  imprudently  and  irregularly. 
Wee  rather  that  you  calmely  considering  of  what  is  past,  should  find 
them  out,  than  wee  be  forced  to  tell  you  of  them.  Wee  have  given 
orders  to  the  govenor  and  councill  in  this  matter,  and  wee  expect  that 
you  should  show  them  all  respect.  Wee  would  recommend  to  you  not 
to  shew  too  great  a  love  for  money  which  is  not  beautifuU  in  any  man 
much  worse  becoming  a  judge.  Take  no  more  than  your  dues  and  if 
they  at  present  be  of  the  least  consider  time  will  mend  them ;  and  if 
that  don't  there  may  be  meanes  found  to  doe  it.  The  way  to  compass 
that  is  not  by  complaint  or  passion.  When  you  have  convinced  every- 
body by  your  actions  of  your  justice  and  especially  if  you  act  with 
prudence  and  temper  you  will  gaine  their  love,  and  they  will  be  studyng 
to  make  such  a  man  easy.     Sir  your  very  affectionate  friend,"  etc. 

On  the  19th  of  October  their  Lordships  address  two 
more  letters,  one  to  Governor  Blake,  the  other  to  Attorney 
General  Tfott.     To  the  Governor  they  write:  — 

"Wee  are  troubled  to  see  you  have  not  given  encouragement  to 
our  judge  as  you  ought  to  have  done,  but  have  on  the  other  hand,  to 
vex  him,  been  exalting  the  admiralty  jurisdiction  'Tis  so  surprising 
to  us  that  we  can't  tell  what  to  think  of  you  or  the  councill  or  the 
people  for  whose  sake  wee  were  at  the  charge  to  send  and  maintaine  a 
judge  The  people  of  New  York  have  addressed  the  governor  that 
judges  and  councillors  may  be  sent  from  England,  and  promise  to 
encourage  them  themselves  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  contributes  more 
to  the  peopling  of  a  country  than  an  impartiall  administration  of 
justice;  nothing  encourages  trade  more;  for  it  is  hardly  to  be  im- 
agined that  men  will  labour  and  run  great  hazards  to  get  an  estate 


tTNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  307 

if  they  have  not  some  assurance  of  being  protected  by  the  lawes  .  .  . 
We  must  desire  you  to  be  very  cautious  for  the  future  in  giving  your 
assent  to  acts  which  hinder  men  from  coming  at  their  just  rights. 
Sir,"  etc. 

Trott  appears  in  this  instance  to  liave  acted  as  a  peace- 
maker.    The  Proprietors  write  to  him :  — 

"  Wee  are  well  pleased  with  your  prudent  management  of  the 
affaires  of  Judge  Bohun  and  returne  you  our  thankes.  Wee  are  sensible 
that  he  likewise  has  in  some  things  not  been  so  prudent  as  he  should 
have  been.  Wee  have  directed  your  governor  and  councill  to  accomo- 
date that  affayr  and  to  countenance  our  judge,  in  which  we  expect 
great  assistance  from  your  knowledge  and  prudence.     Sir,"  etc. 

This  reference  to  the  action  of  the  colonists  of  New  York 
was  needless ;  the  colonists  of  Carolina  had  made  the  same 
appeal.  Twenty-nine  years  before  O'SuUivan  had  written, 
requesting  that  an  able  counsellor  should  be  sent  to  end 
controversies,  and  put  them  in  the  right  way  to  manage 
the  colony ;  ^  but  the  preposterous  provision  of  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  in  regard  to  lawyers  and  to  lawmak- 
ing had  deterred  any  from  coming ;  and  now  the  Proprietors, 
while  sending  them  a  lawyer  as  Attorney  General,  were 
sending  them  a  laymen  for  Chief  Justice.  In  the  letter  of 
October  19,  the  cause  of  the  present  trouble  is  hinted  at. 
It  was  that  the  Governor  and  Council  were  vexing  Bohun, 
their  Chief  Justice,  by  retaining  his  Majesty's  Judge  of 
Admiralty.  In  other  words,  the  Governor  and  Council 
were  paying  more  deference  to  the  Royal  authority  than 
to  that  of  the  Proprietors.  In  another  letter  they  charged 
that  Mr.  Randolph's  "  blustering  has  occasioned  much  of 
this  embroilment."  2  But  pestilence  and  death  came  to 
put  a  speedy  end  to  the  career  of  the  Chief  Justice  and 
Receiver  General. 

The  two  last  years  of  the  century  were  full  of  disasters 

1  Ante,  p.  137.  Coll  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  148. 


308  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

to  the  colonists.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  political  turmoil, 
fire,  pestilence,  storm,  and  earthquake  visited  the  planta- 
tion. A  letter  from  the  Governor  and  Council  to  the 
Lords  Proprietors,  dated  March  12,  1697-98  states  :  "  We 
have  had  the  small  pox  amongst  us  nine  or  ten  months 
vi^hich  hath  been  very  infectious  and  mortal.  We  have 
lost  bj  the  distemper  200  or  300  persons.  And  on  the 
24  February  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  night  in  Charles 
Town  which  hath  burnt  the  dwellings  stores  and  out- 
houses of  at  least  fifty  families  and  hath  consumed  (it  is 
generally  believed)  in  houses  and  goods  the  value  of 
£30,000  sterling."  In  a  subsequent  letter,  dated  April  23, 
1698,  they  state  that  the  smallpox  still  continued,  but  was 
not  so  fatal  as  in  the  cold  weather,  and  that  a  great  num- 
ber of  Indians  fell  victims  to  the  disease.^  A  letter  of  Mrs. 
Affra  Coming  to  her  sister  in  England  of  the  same  time, 
March  6, 1698-99,  gives  a  still  more  gloomy  account.  She 
writes:^  — 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  should  be  the  messenger  of  so  sad  tidings  as 
to  desire  you  not  to  come  to  me  till  you  can  hear  better  times  than 
here  is  now,  for  the  whole  country  is  full  of  trouble  &  sickness,  'tis 
the  Small  pox  which  has  been  mortal  to  all  sorts  of  the  inhabitants 
&  especially  the  Indians  who  tis  said  to  have  swept  away  a  whole 
neighboring  nation,  all  to  5  or  6  which  ran  away  and  left  their 
dead  unburied,  lying  upon  the  ground  for  the  vultures  to  devouer; 
beside  the  want  of  shipping  this  fall  winter  &  the  spring  is  the 
cause  of  another  trouble,  &  has  been  followed  by  an  earthquake 
&  burning  of  the  town  or  one  third  of  it  which  they  say  was  of 
equal  value  with  what  remains,  besides  the  great  loss  of  cattle  which 
I  know  by  what  has  been  found  dead  of  mine  and  being  over  stocked, 
what  all  these  things  put  together  makes  the  place  look  with  a 
terrible  aspect  &  none  knows  what  will  be  the  end  of  it,"  etc. 

The  next  year,  1699,  a  malignant  disease,  with  little 
doubt  yellow  fever,  was  brought  in  from  the  West  Indies 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  32,  note. 

2  MSB.  letters  in  possession  of  Mr.  Isaac  Ball. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  309 

and  raged  in  the  town.  In  a  letter  from  the  Governor 
and  Council  dated  Charles  Town  in  South  Carolina 
January  17,  1699-1700,^  they  state  that  they  had  nothing 
to  communicate  but  that 

"  a  most  infectious  pestilential  and  mortal  distemper  (the  same  which 
hath  always  been  in  one  or  more  of  his  Majestys  American  planta- 
tions for  eight  or  nine  years  last  past)  which  from  Barbados  or 
Providence  was  brought  in  among  us  into  Charles  Town  about  the 
28'**  or  29'^  of  Aug.  last  past,  and  the  decay  of  trade  and  muta- 
tions of  your  Lordships  public  officers  occasioned  thereby.  This 
distemper  from  the  time  of  its  beginning  aforesaid  to  the  first  day 
of  November  killed  in  Charles  Town  at  least  160  persons.  Among 
whom  were  Mr  Ely  Receiver  General;  Mr  Amory  Receiver  for  the 
Public  Treasury;  Edward  Rawlins  Marshall;  Edmund  Bohun  Chief 
Justice.  Amongst  a  great  many  other  good  and  capital  Merchants 
and  Housekeepers  in  Charles  Town,  the  Rev  Mr  Marshall  our 
Minister  was  taken  away  by  the  said  distemper.  Besides  those  that 
have  died  in  Charles  Town  10  or  11  have  died  in  the  country,  all  of 
which  got  the  distemper  and  were  infected  in  Charles  Town  went 
home  to  their  families  and  died;  and  what  is  notable  not  one  of  their 
families  was  infected  by  them." 

Another  letter  states  that  "  150  persons  had  died  in 
Charles  Town  in  a  few  days  " ;  that  "  the  survivors  fled 
into  the  country  "  and  "  that  the  town  was  thinned  to  a 
very  few  people."  ^ 

It  is  noticeable  that  Chief  Justice  Bohun,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Marshall,  the  Receiver  General  Ely,  and  Edward 
Rawlins,  all  newly  arrived,  fell  victims  to  the  disease. 
But  the  old  settlers  were  not  exempt.  Half  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly  died.  Nicholas  Trott,  the  Attorney 
General,  though  a  new  arrival,  escaped.  Dr.  Ramsay, 
who  wrote  in  1809,  observes  this  disease  was  generally 
called  the  plague  by  the  inhabitants,  but  that  from  tradi- 
tion and  the  circumstances,  particularly  the  contempora- 
neous existence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia,  there 
1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  35,  36.  2  j^f^^ 


310  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

is  reason  to  believe  that  the  malady  was  the  yellow  fever, 
and  if  so,  it  was  the  first  appearance  of  that  disorder  in 
Charles  Town  and  took  place  in  the  nineteenth  or  twen- 
tieth year  after  it  began  to  be  built.  He  considers  that  its 
reappearance  in  1703  makes  it  still  more  probable  that  it 
was  the  yellow  fever.^  Dr.  Dalcho,  a  physician  whom  tra- 
dition asserts  was  surgeon  of  a  privateer  before  his  entry 
into  the  ministry,  and  who  was  probably  familiar  with  the 
disease  in  the  West  Indies,  regards  it  also  as  probable  that 
it  was  the  same  yellow  fever  of  the  time  in  which  he  wrote, 
i.e.  the  same  as  that  of  the  present  day.  Indeed,  we  may 
safely  assume  that  it  was.  He  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  at  that  time,  before  our  extensive  swamps  were 
cleared  of  their  timber  and  their  surface  exposed  to  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun,  persons  could  reside  in  the  low 
country  in  the  summer  and  autumn  without  danger,  and 
when  unusual  sickness  prevailed  in  the  town  the  country 
was  resorted  to  as  a  place  of  health.^  This  continued  for 
many  years  after.  In  1738,  we  shall  see,  the  General 
Assembly  called  and  assembled  at  Ashley  Ferry  in  Sep- 
tember to  legislate  in  regard  to  the  spread  of  smallpox, 
then  raging  in  the  town. 

During  the  autumn  of  1699  a  dreadful  hurricane,  as  it 
was  then  called,  happened  at  Charles  Town,  which  did  great 
damage  and  threatened  the  total  destruction  of  the  town. 
The  swelling  sea  rushed  in  with  amazing  impetuosity  and 
obliged  the  inhabitants  to  retreat  for  safety  to  the  second 
stories  of  their  houses.  Happily,  few  lives  were  lost  in  the 
town,  but  a  vessel,  one  crowded  with  the  remnants  of  the 
disastrous  Darien  colony,  happening  to  be  off  the  bar  at 
the  time,  was  totally  destroyed.  This  vessel,  the  Rising 
Sun,  commanded  by  James  Gibson,  was  one  of  seven  in 

1  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  82,  83, 
•Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  36,  note. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  311 

which  the  survivors  of  the  Scotch  colony  had  embarked 
upon  their  attempted  return  to  their  native  land.  But 
one  only  reached  home.  Many  of  those  who  had  em- 
barked in  the  Rising  Sun  died  of  fever  and  fluxes.  To 
complete  the  chapter  of  disasters,  the  vessel  encountered 
a  gale  off  the  coast  of  Florida  which  brought  them  into 
great  distress.  They  made  for  the  port  of  Charles  Town 
under  a  jury-mast,  and  while  lying  off  the  bar  waiting  to 
lighten  the  vessel  that  she  might  get  into  port,  the  storm 
arose  in  which  she  went  to  pieces,  and  nearly  every  per- 
son on  board  perished.^  From  this  vessel  one  was  saved, 
however,  almost  miraculously,  who  was  to  be  in  a  great 
measure  the  founder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Caro- 
lina. The  Rev.  Mr.  Archibald  Stobo  had  been  waited 
upon  by  a  deputation  from  the  Congregational  Church  in 
the  town  and  invited  to  preach,  and,  agreeing  to  do 
so,  had  gone  up,  taking  with  him  his  wife.  Lieutenant 
Graham  and  several  others  also  accompanied  him.  These 
thus  escaped ;  and,  going  the  next  day  in  search  of  their 
unfortunate  countrymen,  found  the  corpses  of  the  greater 
part  of  them  washed  ashore  on  James  Island,  where  they 
spent  a  whole  day  burying  them.  Captain  Gibson,  the 
commander  of  the  vessel,  was  among  those  who  were  lost; 
and  this  was  regarded  by  many  in  Scotland  as  the  retribu- 
tion of  Heaven  upon  his  cruel  conduct  towards  the  poor 
prisoners  whom  he  transported  to  Carolina  in  1684.  "  In 
the  very  same  place,"  it  was  said,  "  it  pleased  the  Sover- 
eign Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  to  call  him  in  so  terrible  a 
manner  to  his  account."  ^ 

One  other  event  of  the  closing  year  of  the  century  must 
be  mentioned,  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  had  given  some 
satisfaction  to  Mr.  Randolph,  though  he  has  left  no  report 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  142. 

2  Howe's  Bist.  Presb.  CK  141,  142. 


312  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

of  it  to  the  Lords  of  Trade.  In  some  alleviation  of  the 
disasters  of  the  year  the  planters  had  made  a  great  rice 
crop.  They  had  raised  more  than  they  could  find  vessels 
to  export,  but  the  number  which  the  crop  employed  had 
attracted  the  pirates,  who  hovered  about  the  bar.  Forty- 
iive  persons  from  different  nations,  Englishmen,  French- 
men, Portuguese,  and  Indians,  had  manned  a  ship  at 
Havana  and  entered  on  a  cruise  of  piracy.  Several  ships 
belonging  to  Charles  Town  were  taken  and  the  crews 
sent  ashore.  But  quarrelling  among  themselves  about  the 
division  of  the  spoil,  the  Englishmen,  proving  the  weaker 
party,  were  turned  adrift  in  a  long-boat.  They  landed  at 
Sewee  Bay  and  travelled  overland  to  Charles  Town,  giving 
out  that  they  had  been  shipwrecked,  but  had,  fortunately, 
escaped  to  shore  in  their  boat.  To  their  sad  disappointment 
and  surprise,  no  less  than  three  masters  of  ships  happened 
to  be  at  Charles  Town  at  the  time,  who  had  been  taken  by 
them  and  knew  them;  upon  their  testimony  the  pirates 
were  instantly  taken  up,  tried,  and  condemned,  and  seven 
out  of  nine  suffered  death.^ 

This  account  is  taken  from  Hewatt.  We  can  find  no 
allusion  to  the  incident  in  correspondence  of  the  time  ;  nor 
are  we  informed  whether  this  swift  judgment  was  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  newly  established  Court  of  Admiralty,  or  was 
inflicted  by  the  "  lynch  law  "  of  the  people. 

Never,  says  Hewatt,  had  the  colony  been  visited  with 
such  general  distress  and  mortality.  Few  families  escaped 
a  share  of  the  public  calamities.  Almost  all  were  lament- 
ing the  loss,  either  of  their  habitations  by  the  devouring 
flames,  or  of  friends  or  relations  by  infectious  and  loathsome 
maladies.  Discouragement  and  despair  sat  on  every  coun- 
tenance. Many  of  the  survivors  could  think  of  nothing 
but  abandoning  a  country  in  which  the  judgments  of 
1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  141. 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  313 

Heaven  seemed  to  fall  so  heavily  and  in  which  there  was 
so  little  prospect  of  success,  health,  or  happiness.  They 
had  heard  of  Pennsylvania  and  how  pleasant  and  flourish- 
ing a  province  it  was  described  to  be,  and  therefore  were 
determined  to  embrace  the  first  opportunity  that  offered 
of  retiring  to  it  with  the  remainder  of  their  families.^ 

As  it  happened,  however,  yellow  fever  was  at  the  time 
raging  in  Philadelphia  as  well  as  in  Charles  Town,  and 
those  who  had  come  from  the  West  Indies  regarded  that 
dread  disease  only  as  one  of  the  evils  to  which  life  was 
ordinarily  exposed.  Smallpox  was  all  over  the  world. 
It  was  common  at  this  time  in  England.  From  the  dangers 
of  fire  there  was  no  exemption  in  any  country. 

And  notwithstanding  all  the  political  difficulties;  not- 
withstanding the  impotent  yet  harassing  control  of  the 
Board  of  Proprietors  in  England,  the  jarring  elements 
of  different  and  differing  people  from  various  lands  thrown 
together  in  a  new  country  under  a  feeble  government; 
notwithstanding  the  national  animosities,  the  religious 
antagonisms,  the  strife  and  turmoil  of  a  new  society, 
in  its  struggles  to  adjust  itself ;  notwithstanding  hurricane, 
fire,  and  pestilence,  —  the  province  was  improving  and  the 
colonists  were  growing  in  numbers  and  acquiring  some 
wealth. 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  143. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

1700 

Thirty  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  planting  of  the 
colony  on  the  Ashley,  —  thirty  years  during  which  the 
only  serious  efforts  of  the  Proprietors  had  been  devoted  to 
the  imposition  of  the  absurd  Constitutions  of  Locke,  and 
an  immediate  return  from  the  sales  and  quit-rents  of  lands 
and  the  profits  of  the  Indian  trade.  Since  the  minute  in- 
structions to  West  for  an  experimental  farm,  they  had 
paid  no  attention  whatever  to  the  development  of  agricult- 
ure in  the  province,  nor  to  the  defence  of  the  colony  from 
the  French  or  Spaniards.  Whatever  had  been  accomplished 
in  the  material  development  of  the  colony  had  been  by  the 
efforts  of  the  colonists  themselves  without  the  assistance 
of  their  Lordships  in  England.  "  The  great  improvement 
made  in  this  Province,"  wrote  Randolph,  "  is  wholly  owing 
to  the  industry  and  labor  of  the  inhabitants."  ^  The  Lords 
Proprietors  took,  however,  the  credit  to  themselves ;  they 
wrote  to  Archdale,  when  on  his  way  out,  that  Carolina 
was  looked  upon  as  a  place  of  refuge  and  safe  retreat  from 
arbitrary  government  and  the  inconveniences  of  other 
places; 2  and  Archdale,  nowise  loath  to  claim  the  honor 
due  his  administration,  announces  that  the  fame  thereof 
quickly  spread  itself  to  all  the  American  plantations  and 
caused  immigration  to  the  province.'"^ 

^  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  Appendix,  446. 
2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  138. 
8  Carroll's  doll.,  vol.  II,  107. 
314 


UNDER    THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  315 

But  to  whatever  causes  attributable,  and  they  were 
many,  the  province  was  indeed  improving  and  the  inhabi- 
tants multiplying.  In  1680  the  population  was  estimated 
to  be  1000  or  1200  souls  ;  but  the  great  number  of  families 
who  had  soon  after  come  in  from  England,  Ireland,  Barba- 
does,  Jamaica,  and  the  Caribbee  Islands,  it  was  estimated, 
had  more  than  doubled  that  number,  so  that  in  1682  the 
white  population  was  probably  2500.^  In  1699  Randolph 
wrote :  "  Their  militia  is  not  above  1500  soldiers,  white 
men,  but  have  through  the  province  generally  4  negroes 
to  1  white  man  and  not  over  1100  families  English  and 
French."  ^  Estimating  the  fighting  men  at  one-fifth  of  the 
population  3  would  make  the  number  at  this  time  7500. 
It  could  scarcely,  however,  have  reached  that  figure,  espe- 
cially since  the  number  of  families  was  but  1100.  Sup- 
posing that  the  families  avemged  five  membere  each,  which 
is  a  large  estimate,  particularly  in  a  new  country,  it  would 
give  but  5500.  This  may  have  been  near  the  actual  num- 
ber. Hewatt  states,  but  without  giving  his  authority,  that 
about  this  time  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  colony 
amounted  to  between  5000  and  6000.* 

Archdale,  as  we  have  before  seen,  is  very  severe  upon 
the  character  of  the  first  settlers,  describing  them  as  "  des- 
perate fortunes"  who  "fii-st  ventured  over  to  break  the 
ice  .  .  .  generally  the  ill-livers  of  the  pretended  church- 
men";^ but  Archdale  was  much  prejudiced  against  church- 

1  T.  A.  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  82. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  Appendix,  443. 

3  "  It  is  a  popular  estimate  that  one-fifth  of  the  population  are  fight- 
ing men.  If  this  is  intended  to  designate  the  natural  militia,  that  is, 
the  male  population  over  eighteen  and  under  forty-five  years  of  age,  it 
will  almost  always  be  an  overestimate,  except  in  a  population  receiving 
large  accessions  of  adult  immigrants  or  among  savage  tribes."  —  Ham- 
mond's South  Carolina  Besources  and  Population.,  etc.,  395  (1883). 

4  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  147. 

5  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  I,  100. 


316  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

men  sincere  or  "  pretended."  Yet  the  term  "  adventurers  " 
—  not  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  contracts  under  which 
some  sailed,^  but  as  applied  to  those  willing  to  incur  risks, 
because  having  little  to  lose  —  described  the  character  of 
many  who  first  came  to  Carolina.  He  watt  applies  the 
same  descriptive  term  to  those  who  immediately  followed. 
From  this  period,  i.e.  that  of  Sir  John  Yeamans's  administra- 
tion, he  says,  every  year  brought  new  adventurers  to  Caro- 
lina. The  friends  of  the  Proprietors  were  invited  to  it  by 
the  flattering  prospects  of  obtaining  landed  estates  at  an 
eas}^  rate.  Others  took  refuge  there  from  the  frowns  of 
fortune  and  the  rigor  of  unmerciful  creditors.  Youth  re- 
duced to  misery  by  giddy  passions  and  excess  embarked 
for  the  new  settlement,  where  they  found  leisure  to  reform, 
and  where  necessity  taught  them  the  unknown  virtues  of 
prudence  and  temperance.  Restless  spirits,  fond  of  roving 
abroad,  found  also  the  means  of  gratifying  their  humors, 
and  abundance  of  scope  for  enterprise  and  adventure.^  It 
was,  perhaps,  among  this  class  that  Mr.  Amy's  "  great  ser- 
vices "  were  rendered  in  meeting  and  treating  people  at 
the  Carolina  Coffee  House,  and  inducing  them  to  go  out 
to  the  colony. 

The  immigrants  who  came  into  Carolina  made  a  medley 
of  different  nations  and  principles.  From  England,  says 
Ramsay,  the  colony  received  both  Roundheads  and  Cava- 
liers, the  friends  of  Parliament  and  adherents  of  the  Royal 
family.^    If  all  adherents  to  the  Royal  family  are  classed 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist,  14. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  56.  See  this  passage,  also,  in 
Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  3-4.  A  similar  description  is  given  of 
the  first  settlers  in  Virginia:  "  poore  gentlemen,  tradesmen,  serving  men, 
libertines  .  .  .  unruly  gallants  packed  thither  by  their  friends  to  escape  ill 
destinies."  —  Anderson's  Hi.9t.  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Colonies, 
vol.  I,  203,  quoting  Smith's  Virginia,  88-90. 

8  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  3. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  317 

as  CavalierSf  the  statement  is  no  doubt  correct.  But  in 
the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  generally  understood,  the 
records  scarcely  bear  out  the  designation  of  the  Cava- 
liers, whom  Macaulay  describes  as  those  opulent  and  well- 
descended  gentlemen  to  whom  nothing  was  wanting  of 
nobility  but  the  name,  there  were  none  among  the  earlier 
settlers,  and  but  few  came  afterwards.^ 

Until  the  time  we  are  now  considering,  there  had  been 
but  two  pereons  in  the  colony  having  a  title  —  Sir  John 
Yeamans,  the  Landgrave  and  Governor,  and  Sir  Nathaniel 
Johnson,  who  was  also  to  be  honored  with  that  provincial 
title.^  Sir  John  had  been  knighted  because  of  his  father's 
sacrifices  in  the  Royal  cause,  and  for  his  own  services  in 
Barbadoes.  Sir  Nathaniel  had  won  his  title  by  his  sword 
in  the  service  of  the  Stuarts.  As  has  been  observed,  any 
tradition  that  connects  to  any  extent  the  provincial  aris- 
tocracies of  the  Southern  States  with  the  Old  World  patri- 
cian origin  is  pure  sentimental  fiction;  that  is,  not  only 
contrary  to  common  sense  and  to  all  evidence  that  can  be 
collected,  but  is  in  defiance  of  colonial  history  itself.  The 
social  order  of  South  Carolina  has  been  the  outgrowth  of 
her  peculiar  circumstances. 

1  See  Hist.  Sketch  of  So.  Ca. ,  by  Edward  McCrady  ;  Preface  to  Cyclo- 
pedia of  Eminent  and  Bepresentative  Men  of  the  Carolinas,  etc.  (Madison, 
Wisconsin,  Brant  &  Fuller,  1892). 

2  The  wife  of  Landgrave  Axtell  and  the  wife  of  Landgrave  Blake  are 
mentioned  as  "  Lady  Axtell "  and  "  Lady  Blake  "  in  grants  and  statutes  ; 
but  this,  it  is  supposed,  was  merely  a  local  honorary  designation  of  the 
wife  of  a  Landgrave.  It  cannot  be  found  that  they  were  entitled  to 
the  appellation  by  any  connection  with  the  peerage  in  England.  Louisa 
Carolina,  wife  of  Rear  Admiral  Richard  Graves,  a  descendant  of  Sir  John 
Colleton,  in  a  little  book  published  by  her  in  1821,  entitled.  Desultory 
Thoughts  on  Various  Subjects,  styles  herself  "Baroness  of  Fairlawn  and 
Landgravine  of  Colleton."  This  lady  was  descended  from  the  three  Pro- 
prietors, —  Sir  John  and  the  two  Sir  Peter  Colletons.  She  was  not,  how- 
ever, descended  from  either  of  the  Landgraves  Thomas  or  James  Colleton. 


318  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

But  though  socially  not  patricians,  and  in  the  main  con- 
sisting of  those  whose  circumstances  led  them  to  seek 
better  fortunes  in  the  New  World  than  the  Old  afforded, 
and  of  others  of  a  lower  order  and  more  reckless  char- 
acter, there  is  still  manifest  a  strong  religious  sentiment 
even  among  the  fii-st-comers,  and  a  recognition  of  the 
Church  of  England  as  the  established  religion  of  the 
colony.  Sayle,  dissenter  and  Puritan  though  he  was,  had 
scarcely  landed  before  he  applied  for  a  clergyman  of  the 
church  to  be  sent  out,  —  an  appeal  which  was  immediately 
seconded  by  O'Sullivan,  Bull,  West,  Scrivener,  Marshal 
Paul  Smith,  and  Dalton,  all  the  leaders  of  the  colony. 
The  very  first  act  passed  is  one  to  enforce  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath.  It  is,  nevertheless,  doubtless  true  that  the 
dissenters  who  came  with  Blake,  Morton,  and  Axtell,  and 
the  French  refugees  flying  for  conscience'  sake,  were,  as  a 
class,  men  of  higher,  of  sterner  character  than  those  who 
came  from  motives  of  personal  advancement  only. 

It  cannot  be  deemed  wonderful,  observes  Hewatt,  if  many 
of  these  new  settlers  were  disappointed,  especially  such 
as  emigrated  with  sanguine  expectations.  The  gayety, 
luxury,  and  vices  of  the  city  were  but  poor  qualifications 
for  rural  industry,  and  rendered  some  utterly  unfit  for  the 
frugal  simplicity  and  laborious  task  of  the  first  state  of 
cultivation.  Nor  could  the  Puritans  promise  themselves 
much  greater  success  than  their  neighbors ;  though  more 
rigid  and  austere  in  their  manners,  and  more  religiously 
disposed,  their  scrupulosity  about  trifles  and  ceremonies, 
and  their  violent  religious  dispositions,  created  trouble  all 
around  them,  and  disturbed  the  general  harmony  so  neces- 
sary to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  young  settlement. 
From  the  various  principles  which  actuated  the  populace 
of  England,  and  the  different  sects  who  composed  the  first 
settlers  of  Carolina,  nothing  less  could  have  been  expected 


UNDER   THE   PKOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  319 

than  that  the  seeds  of  division  should  be  imported  into  the 
new  country  with  its  earliest  inhabitants.^ 

There  is  no  record  of  the  first  French  Protestants  brought 
out  by  Petit  and  Grinard  in  the  ship  Richmond  in  1680, 
though  one  of  the  conditions  of  their  transportation  was 
that  a  list  of  their  names  should  be  furnished.  They  must 
have  been  persons  of  some  means,  however  small,  for  they 
were  required  to  furnish  their  own  provisions  for  the 
voyage.  It  is  believed  that  they  were  settled  on  the  east 
branch  of  Cooper  River,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  what 
was  known  as  Orange  Quarter,  subsequently  the  parish  of 
St.  Denis.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  first  of  these 
names  was  derived  from  the  principality  of  Orange  in  the 
province  of  Avignon.  The  name  of  St.  Denis  is  supposed 
to  commemorate  the  battle-field  of  St.  Denis  in  the  vicinity 
of  Paris,  which  was  the  scene  of  a  memorable  encounter  in 
1567  between  the  Catholic  forces  commanded  by  Mont- 
morency and  the  Huguenots  led  by  Coligny  and  the  Prince 
of  Cond^,  in  which  Montmorency  was  slain.  Some  thirty 
families  were  settled  here  soon  after  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.2  Lawson,  in  his  travels  in  1700,  found 
seventy  families  established  on  the  Santee,  following  trade 
with  the  Indians  and  living  "as  decently  and  happily  as 
any  planter  in  these  southward  parts  of  America.  The 
French,"  he  says,  "  being  a  temperate  and  industrious 
people,  some  of  them  bringing  very  little  effects,  yet  by 
their  endeavours  and  mutual  assistance  amongst  them- 
selves (which  is  highly  to  be  commended)  have  outstript 
our  English  who  brought  with  'em  larger  fortunes  though 
(as  it  seems)  less  endeavour  to  manage  their  talent  to  the 
best  advantage.  They  live,"  he  says,  "like  one  family, 
and  each  one  rejoices  at  the  prosperity  and  elevation  of  his 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  56. 

2  Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  111. 


320  HISTORY    OF    SOUTH    CAROLINA 

bretlieren."  ^  But  it  was  through  pain,  travail,  and  anguish 
that  these  noble  people  accomplished  what  they  did.  A 
letter  of  one  of  the  first  to  arrive,  the  mother  of  Gabriel 
Manigault,  who  in  a  long  and  useful  life  was  to  accumu- 
late a  fortune  so  large  as  to  enable  him  to  aid  the  asylum 
of  his  persecuted  parents  with  a  loan  of  |220,000  for  carry- 
ing on  its  revolutionary  struggle  for  liberty  and  indepen- 
dence, has  been  preserved  by  Ramsay,  which,  after  giving 
a  most  touching  and  piteous  account  of  escape  from  France 
and  suffering  on  their  voyage  to  Carolina,  thus  relates  their 
bitter  experience  there :  — 

"  After  our  arrival  in  Carolina,"  she  writes,  "  we  suffered  every  kind 
of  evil.  In  about  eighteen  months  our  elder  brother  unaccustomed 
to  hard  labor  we  were  obliged  to  undergo  died  of  a  fever.  Since 
leaving  France  we  had  experienced  every  kind  of  affliction  —  disease 
—  pestilence  —  famine  —  poverty  —  hard  labor.  I  have  been  for  six 
months  together  without  tasting  bread,  working  the  ground  like  a 
slave ;  and  I  have  even  passed  three  or  four  years  without  always 
having  it  when  I  wanted  it.  God  has  done  great  things  for  us  ena- 
bling us  to  bear  up  under  so  many  trials.  I  should  never  have  done 
were  I  to  attempt  to  detail  to  you  all  our  adventures.  Let  it  suffice 
that  God  has  had  compassion  on  me  and  changed  my  fate  to  a  more 
happy  one,  for  which  glory  be  unto  him."  2 

The  Huguenots  at  first  cultivated  the  barren  highlands, 
and  naturally  attempted  to  raise  wheat,  barley,  and  other 
European  grains  upon  them  until  better  taught  by  the  In- 
dians. Tradition  relates  that  men  and  their  wives  worked 
together  in  felling  trees,  building  houses,  making  fences, 
and  grubbing  up  their  grounds  until  their  settlements 
were  formed ;  and  afterwards  continued  at  their  labors  at 
the  whip-saw,  and  in  burning  tar  for  market.  General 
Peter  Horry  stated  that  his  grandfather  and  grandmother 

*  A  New  Voyage  to  Carolina,  etc.,  by  John  Lawson,  Gentleman,  Sur- 
veyor General  of  North  Carolina  (London,  1709). 

2  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  6,  note.     The  letter  is  in  French. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  S2l 

began  the  foundation  of  their  handsome  fortune  by  work- 
ing together  at  the  whip-saw.^ 

It  was  hoped  that  these  people  would  have  introduced 
the  successful  cultivation  of  vines  and  the  production  of 
oil  and  silk.  Unfortunately,  their  expectations  were  dis- 
appointed. An  attempt  was  made  to  cultivate  the  vine 
and  the  olive,  but  the  climate  proved  insalubrious,  the 
land,  except  on  the  margin  of  the  rivers  and  creeks,  was 
unproductive,  and  did  not  reward  the  care  of  the  culti- 
vator. But  though  not  successful  in  enriching  the  coun- 
try with  these  valuable  commodities,  these  refugees  became 
a  most  important  and  useful  part  of  the  population  of  the 
colony,  and  were  soon  after  joined  by  others  of  their  people 
like  themselves,  refugees  from  religious  persecution. 

The  good  will  of  the  King  and  Lords  Proprietors  towards 
these  distressed  and  exiled  Protestants  has  been  considered 
an  instance  of  noble  humanity .^  We  cannot  so  regard  it, 
at  least  on  the  part  of  the  Proprietors.  Their  great  desire 
and  purpose  at  this  time  was  to  effect  a  colonization  of 
their  lands.  They  were  seeking  emigrants  for  the  prov- 
ince on  their  own  account  and  for  their  own  advantage, 
and  the  sober  and  industrious  character  of  these  people, 
and,  as  it  was  supposed,  their  peculiar  adaptability  to 
the  climate  and  circumstances  of  Carolina,  strongly  recom- 
mended the  scheme  of  their  colonization  to  their  Lordships. 
So  advantageous,  indeed,  did  they  regard  this  immigration 
that  they  granted  Rene  Petit  and  Jacob  Grinard  4000 
acres  of  land  each  for  having  secured  the  addition  to  their 
colony .3  During  the  yeai-s  1685,  1686,  and  1687,  the  Pro- 
prietors made  sales  themselves  directly  to  French  refugees, 
and  sent  out  instruction  for   lands   to    be   surveyed   for 

1  James's  Life  of  Marion^  Introduction,  p.  12. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  174. 

3  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  102. 

T 


322  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

them.^  But  only  in  two  instances  does  it  appear  that 
these  grants  were  made  upon  other  terms  than  payment 
of  the  purchase  money;  and  in  these  they  were  apparently 
granted^j^s^a^onusfor^  inducing  others  to  emigrate.  To 
Jean  Fran9ois  de  Genillat,  the  first  of  the  Swiss  nation 
to  settle  in  Carolina,  was  granted  3000  acres ;  and  to  John 
d'Arsens,  Seigneur  de  Wernhaut,  probably  a  Belgian,  the 
trustees  of  the  Proprietors  were  instructed  to  measure  out 
such  quantity  of  land  as  he  might  desire,  not  exceeding 
12,000  acres.2  Including  those  to  the  Swiss  and  Belgians^ 
grants  to  the  foreign  Protestants  amounted  to  more  than 
,50,000  acres.  The  grants  to  these  people,  whether  upon 
sale  or  for  other  considerations,  were  upon  the  same  terms 
of  possession  and  descent  as  the  lands  given  or  sold  to 
English  settlers,  notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  the  latter 
that  the  new-comers  were  aliens  in  all  respects  in  the 
colony  as  they  were  in  the  mother  country .^ 

Charles  II  had  furnished  the  first  of  these  emigrants 
with  transportation  in  the  ship  Richmond^  and  in  the 
reign  of  James  II  considerable  collections  were  made  for 
the  refugees  who  went  over  to  England;  and  in  that  of 
William,  X3000  were  voted  by  Parliament  "to  be  distrib- 

1  These  grants  were  as  follows:  (1685)  James  du  Gu6,  500  acres; 
Isaac  Le  Jay  and  Magdalen  Fleury  alias  Le  Jay,  his  wife,  500  acres ; 
Charles  Franchomme  and  Mary  Baulier  alias  Franchomme,  his  wife,  500 
acres  ;  Nicholas  Longuemar,  100  acres  ;  Jean  Fran 90 is  de  Genillat  (Swiss), 
3000  acres  ;  Arnold  Bonneau,  3000  acres  ;  James  Le  Bas,  3000  acres  ;  (1686) 
Isaac  Le  Grand,  Si6m  d'Anarville,  100  acres  ;  James  Le  Moyne,  100  acres; 
James  Nicholas  alias  Petibois,  200  acres  ;  Henry  Augustus  Chastaigner, 
Esq.,  Seigneur  de  Cramach6,  and  Alexander  Chastaigner,  Esq.,  Seigneur 
de  Lisle,  3000  acres;  John  d'Arsens,  Seigneur  de  Wernhaut,  12,000 
acres  ;  James  Martell,  Goulard  de  Vervant,  12,000  ;  (1687)  Joachim  Gail- 
lard,  600  acres.  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  voL  I,  114,  119.  But  one  of 
these  names,  i.e.  Gaillard,  is  now  surviving  in  South  Carolina. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  114,  117. 
8  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  174. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  323 

uted  among  persons  of  quality,  and  all  such  as,  through 
age  or  infirmity,  were  unable  to  support  themselves."  The 
nobility  and  wealthier  portion  of  refugees  remained  nearer 
their  old  homes  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  Those 
who  ventured  to  America  were  generally  tradesmen,  agri- 
culturists, and  mechanics.  There  were,  however,  among 
them  some  families  of  ancient  lineage  and  position.  In  the 
act  "  making  aliens  free,"  the  names  and  occupations  of 
those  who  had  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  are  given, 
and  from  them  we  may  gather  somewhat  of  the  character 
of  these  people.  These  are  the  occupations  which  are  at- 
tached to  their  names :  weavers,  wheelwrights,  merchants, 
saddlers,  smiths,  coopers,  shammy-dressers,  joiners,  gun- 
smiths, sailmakers,  braziers,  goldsmiths,  blockmakers,  plant- 
ers, watchmakers,  silk-throwsters,  apothecaries,  and  one 
doctor.^  Sixty-three  persons  were  named  in  the  act,  and 
all  other  persons  desiring  to  come  in  under  its  provisions, 
and  obtain  the  benefits  of  naturalization,  were  required,  by 
its  terms,  to  apply  to  the  Governor  and  obtain  a  certificate 
from  him  of  having  taken  the  oath  prescribed.  Under  this 
provision,  the  list  of  naturalized  Huguenots  was  increased 
to  154.2    The  artisans  generally  found  a  home  and  employ- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  132. 

2  "  Liste  Des  Fran9ois  et  Suisses  .  .  .  who  desired  naturalization." 
Edited  by  Theodore  Gaillard  Thomas,  M.D.  New  York  Knickerbocker 
Press,  1868.  Ramsay  gives  a  list  of  a  number  of  respectable  and  influen- 
tial families  which  sprung  from  this  stock  ;  to  wit,  Bonnemi,  Bounetheau, 
Bordeaux,  Benoist,  Boiseau,  Bocquet,  Bacot,  Chevalier,  Cordes,  Couterier^ 
Chastaigner,  Du  Pre,  De  Lysle,  Du  Base,  Du  Bois,  Beveaux,  Dutarque,  De 
la  Consiliere,  De  Leiseline,  Douxsaint,  Du  Pont,  Du  Bourdieu,  D'Harriette, 
Faucheraud,  Foissin,  Faysoux,  Gaillard,  Gendron,  Gegnilliat,  Guerard, 
Godin,  Giradeau,  Guerin,  Gourdine,  Horry,  Huger,  Jeannertte,  Legare, 
Laurens,  La  Roche,  Lenud,  Lansac,  Marion^  Mazycky** Manigault,Mouzon, 

«  The  Mazycks  were  not,  however,  French  or  Swiss  Huguenots.  They 
were  Walloons  of  Li^ge.  The  name  originally  was  written  de  Mazyck ; 
but  upon  the  removal  to  the  Isle  de  R6  was  changed  to  Mazicq,  agreeably 


324  HISTORY   OF   SOtJTH  CAROLINA 

ment  in  Charles  Town,  while  those  accustomed  to  rural  pur- 
suits settled  in  Craven  County  on  the  Santee,  and  some  on 
Cooper  River  and  at  Goose  Creek,  and  industriously  set 
to  work  clearing  and  cultivating  the  ground.  The  larger 
portion  of  these  settled  on  the  south  side  of  the  Santee, 
where  a  town  or  tract  was  laid  out  and  called  "  James 
Town."  ^  This  portion  of  the  country  hence  obtained  the 
name  of  French  Santee.  Lawson  found  about  fifty  fami- 
lies settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Santee.  In  1687  six  hun- 
dred French  Protestants  were  sent  to  America  through 
the  Royal  bounty,  and  most  of  these,  it  is  said,  located  in 
Carolina  ;  ^  but  this  can  scarcely  be  so,  for  the  Huguenots, 
including  all  arrivals,  did  not  reach  that  number.^  Ran- 
dolph enclosed  to  the   Lords   of   Trade  in  his  letter  of 

Michau,  N'eufville,  Prioleau,  Peronneau,  Perdriau,  Porcher^  Postell, 
Peyre,  Poyas,  Bavenel,  Royes,  Simons,  Sarazin,  St.  Julien,  Serre,  Tres- 
vant.  In  the  eighty  years  since  Dr.  Ramsay  wrote,  some  of  these  families 
have  died  out  or  disappeared.    The  names  of  those  still  living  are  italicized. 

1  The  tract  of  land  was  called  "James  Town,"  but  no  town  or  village 
was  founded. 

2  The  Huguenots  (Samuel  Smiles),  435. 

3  The  following  table  was  furnished  Edward  Randolph  by  Peter  Girard. 
See  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  447  :  — 

People 

The  number  of  the  French  Protestant  Refugees  of  the  French 
Church  of  Charles  Town  is 195 

The  quantity  of  the  French  Protestants  of  the  French  Church  of 
Goose  Creek  is 31 

The  quantity  of  the  French  Protestants  of  y«  Eastern  branch  of 
Cooper  River  is 101 

The  number  and  quantity  of  the  French  Church  of  Santee  is        .     lU 
Total  of  the  French  Protestants  to  this  day  in  Carolina         .    438 

to  the  French  idiom.  The  original  orthography  was  resumed  by  the 
emigrant  to  Carolina,  a  wealthy  merchant,  who,  upon  the  Revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  escaped,  and  came  to  Carolina  with  a  cargo  of  £1000 
sterling, — the  foundation  of  a  large  fortune  which  he  afterwards  made 
in  the  trade  to  Barbadoes  and  the  other  West  Indies.  Howe's  Hist. 
Presb.  Ch.,  102. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  325 

March  16,  1698-99,  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  these 
people  as  at  that  time  438. 

The  Rev.  William  Screven,  a  native  of  Somerset,  Eng- 
land, emigrated  to  America  in  1681,  and  settled  at  Kittery, 
in  the  province  of  Maine.  He  was  an  Anabaptist,  and  as 
such  his  religious  views  were  not  in  harmony  with  the 
"  Standing  Order "  of  that  province ;  whereupon  he  was 
presented  and  fined  by  the  County  Court  "for  not  fre- 
quenting the  publique  meeting  according  to  Law  on  the 
Lords  days."  The  fine  was  remitted,  however,  as  it  ap- 
peared that  he  usually  attended  "  Mr.  Mowdy's  meetings 
on  the  Lords  days."  He  was  nevertheless  esteemed  as  a 
citizen  and  was  rapidly  advanced  to  positions  of  trust; 
but  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  his  opinions  determined  him  to 
devote  himself  to  the  ministry  and  to  the  formation  of  a 
Baptist  Church  in  Kittery.  Going  to  Boston,  he  was 
ordained  on  the  11th  of  January,  1682,  and  upon  his 
return  organized  a  Baptist  Church ;  but  in  doing  so  he 
met  with  great  opposition  from  the  provincial  authorities, 
was  summoned  before  the  County  Court  at  York,  examined 
as  to  his  views  upon  infant  baptism,  and  thereupon  was 
adjudged  guilty  of  blasphemy,  fined,  and  prohibited  from" 
having  any  private  exercises  at  his  own  house  or  else- 
where upon  the  Lord's  Day,  either  in  Kittery  or  any  other 
place  within  the  limits  of  the  province.  Disregarding  this 
injunction,  Mr.  Screven  was  "  convicted  of  contempt  of  his 
Majestys  authority  by  refusing  to  submit  himself  to  the 
sentence  of  the  former  court,"  required  to  give  bond 
for  his  good  behavior  in  the  future,  and  committed  to  jail 
until  he  did  so.  He  was  released,  however,  upon  his 
promise  to  depart  out  of  the  province  within  a  very 
short  time.  On  the  25th  of  September,  1682,  a  covenant 
was  entered  into  and  signed,  and  a  "  Baptist  company  " 
organized,  for   removal   to   some   other   place.     They  do 


326  HISTOKY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

not,  however,  appear  to  have  been  in  haste  to  go.  As 
late  as  October  9,  1683,  the  "  Baptist  company "  were 
settled  at  Kittery ;  for  Screven  was  summoned  again 
before  the  court  for  disregard  of  the  previous  order;  and 
again  on  the  27th  of  May,  1684,  he  was  summoned  "to 
appear  before  the  General  Assembly  in  June  next."  As 
no  further  mention  in  reference  to  Mr.  Screven  is  found 
in  the  records  of  the  province,  it  is  probable  that  he  and 
his  company  had  made  all  their  preparations  for  removal 
and  before  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly arrived,  had  left  their  homes  on  the  Piscataqua  for  a 
new  settlement  in  Carolina.  The  place  selected  for  the 
settlement  was  on  Cooper  River,  not  far  from  Charles 
Town ;  but  the  exact  location  is  not  known,  nor  the  date 
of  their  arrival.  Mr.  Screven  called  the  settlement  Somer- 
ton,  probably  from  his  native  place  in  England.^  Blake, 
Axtell,  and  Morton  came  to  Carolina  about  the  same  time. 
Blake's  wife  and  her  mother,  "  Lady  "  Axtell,  became  mem- 
bers of  Mr.  Screven's  congregation.  Before  1693  most  of 
the  members  of  the  church  had  removed  to  Charles  Town.^ 
In  the  year  1696  Carolina  received  a  small  accession  of 
inhabitants  by  the  arrival  of  a  Congregational  Church  from 
Dorchester  in  Massachusetts,  who,  with  their  minister,  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Lord,  settled  in  a  body  near  the  head  of  the 
Ashley  River,  about  twenty  miles  from  Charles  Town.  The 
church  of  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  was  composed  of  a 
company  of  Puritans  who,  early  in  1630,  had  sailed  from 
Plymouth,  England,  and  settled  in  that  province.  This 
congregation,  which  was  formed  as  a  missionary  enterprise, 

1  To  "a  confession  of  Faith  of  several  churches  in  the  county  of 
Somerset  and  in  the  counties  near  adjacent,"  "  William  Screven  of 
Somerton"  is  one  of  twenty-five  subscribers  in  1656.  This,  it  is  sup- 
posed, is  the  same  William  Screven,  the  immigrant  to  Carolina. 

^  Hist,  of  the  Baptist  Ch.,  Charleston  (Tupper),  1889. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  327 

embarked  on  the  5th  of  December,  1695,  in  two  small  ves- 
sels, and  experienced  a  severe  gale  on  their  passage ;  but 
both  vessels  arrived  safely  in  about  fourteen  days.  The 
colony,  treading  their  way  up  the  Ashley  River  in  quest  of 
a  convenient  place  for  settlement,  fixed  upon  a  spot  which 
they  named  Dorchester.  Here,  in  the  midst  of  an  unbroken 
forest,  inhabited  by  beasts  of  prey  and  savage  men,  twenty 
miles  from  the  dwelling  of  any  white  man,  they  took  up 
their  abode,  and  remained  nearly  sixty  years,  keeping 
together  as  a  distinct  community.  Finding  the  situation 
unhealthy  and  confined  to  a  tract  of  land  too  small  for 
their  purposes,  they  again  moved  in  1752  and  settled  at 
Medway,  Liberty  County,  Georgia.  Several  families  of 
Colleton  County,  however,  came  from  the  stock,  and  it  is 
believed  that  many  of  the  people  in  that  section  of  the 
State  are  derived  from  this  source.  The  ruins  of  their  fort 
and  of  their  church  may  yet  be  seen  near  Summerville.^ 

The  colony  was  continually  receiving  new  additions 
from  Barbadoes  and  the  other  West  India  Islands,  bring- 
ing with  them  their  negro  slaves.  These  were  all  Church 
of  England  people,  and  formed  a  great  part  of  the  church 
party  in  the  colony.  They  settled  principally  upon  the 
Cooper  River;  some  of  them  were  of  the  Goose  Creek 
men  of  whom  the  Proprietors  warned  Ludwell  to  beware.^ 

1  Howe's  Hist,  of  the  Fresh.  Ch.,  120-122. 

2  Sir  John  Colieton,  one  of  the  Proprietors,  was  from  Barbadoes,  and 
so  were  his  two  brothers,  James,  the  Governor,  and  Major  Cliarles  Col- 
leton. From  that  island  came  Sir  John  Yeamans,  the  Landgrave  and 
Governor ;  Captain  John  Godfrey,  Deputy  ;  Christopher  Portman,  John 
Maverick,  and  Thomas  Grey,  among  the  first  members-elect  of  the  Grand 
Council ;  Captain  Gyles  Hall,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  an  owner  of  a 
lot  hi  Old  Town  ;  Robeit  Daniel,  Landgrave  and  Governor  ;  Arthur  and 
Edward  Middleton,  Benjamin  and  Robert  Gibbes,  Barnard  Schinkingh, 
Charles  Buttall,  Richard  Dearsley,  and  Alexander  Skeene.  Among  others 
from  Barbadoes  were  those  of  the  following  names:  Cleland,  Drayton, 
Elliot,  Fenwicke,  Foster,  Fox,  Gibbon,  Hare,  Hayden,  Lake,  Ladson, 


328  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  early  settlers  followed  the  river  courses,  and  planted 
themselves  upon  their  banks.  There  were  probably  two 
causes  inducing  this :  the  rivers  presented  the  only  means 
of  transportation  in  the  absence  of  roads,  and  the  way 
also  of  escape  from  the  Indians.  The  innumerable  creeks, 
branches,  and  inlets  from  the  sea,  which  intersect  the  low 
country,  presented  abundance  of  room  for  many  years  to 
allow  river  front  to  almost  every  plantation.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  filling  up  of  the  islands  and  peninsulas,  the  set- 
tlements still,  however,  continuing  within  easy  access  to 
water.  The  banks  of  the  Ashley  were  first  settled  under 
Sajde,  the  western  bank  most  thickly.  The  Cooper  River 
was  next  followed,  and  a  settlement  made  upon  Goose 
Creek,  its  first  considerable  branch,  and  also  on  the  east 
between  that  river  and  the  Wando.  The  destruction 
of  Lord  Cardross's  colony  put  a  stop  for  many  years  to 
any  settlement  at  Port  Royal ;  but  the  sea  islands,  those 
now  known  as  James,  John's,  and  Edisto  islands,  were 
soon  peopled.  The  French  refugees  had  pushed  up  the 
Cooper,  as  we  have  seen,  until  they  had  reached  the 
Santee.  A  map  made  in  1715  ^  shows  that  the  population 
of  South  Carolina  was  still  confined  almost  entirely  be- 
tween the  Santee  on  the  northeast  and  the  Edisto  on  the 

Moore,  Strode,  Thompson,  Walter,  and  Woodward.  Sayle,  the  first 
Governor,  was  from  Bermuda.  From  Jamaica  came  Amory,  Parker, 
Parris,  Pinckney,  and  Whaley  ;  from  Antigua,  Lucas,  Motte,  and  Percy ; 
from  St.  Christopher,  Rawlins  and  Lowndes ;  from  the  Leeward  Islands, 
Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  the  Governor ;  and  from  the  Bahamas,  Nicholas 
Trott,  the  Chief  Justice.  Some  of  these  were  probably  but  temporarily 
on  the  islands ;  some  had  been  long-established  residents. 

This  list  has  been  compiled,  with  the  assistance  of  Laugdon  Cheves, 
Esq.,  from  various  sources,  including  Emigrants  to  America,  1600-1700 
(Hotten). 

1  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1886.  Copied  from  an 
original  map  of  principal  part  of  North  America,  in  the  library  of 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  M.D.,  of  New  York. 


UNDER    THE   PllOPKIETARY    GOVERNMENT  329 

southwest.  Generally  speaking,  the  old  English  colonists 
and  the  Barbadians,  who  together  composed  the  Church 
of  England  people,  were  settled  in  Charles  Town  and  upon 
the  Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers  ;  the  French  Huguenots  on 
the  Santee ;  and  English  dissenters  who  had  come  out 
with  Blake  and  Axtell  upon  the  Edisto.  There  were, 
however.  Independents,  Baptists,  Quakers,  and  Huguenots 
in  the  town. 

Berkeley  County  was  thus  for  the  Church  of  England, 
Colleton  was  strongly  imbued  with  dissent,  and  Craven, 
while  Calvinistic  in  its  tenets,  was  without  hostility  to 
the  church.  The  colonists  had  crossed  the  seas  and 
changed  their  climate,  but  not  their  minds ;  they  had 
brought  with  them  their  Old  World  thoughts,  opinions, 
and  prejudices.  Indeed,  was  it  not  on  account  of  these, 
and  that  they  might  have  liberty  to  enjoy  them,  that 
many  had  deserted  their  homes  and  sought  refuge  in  the 
wild  woods  of  America?  All  were  more  or  less  earnest 
in  their  religious  convictions  and  sentiments,  and  clung 
to  them  as  matters  of  vital  consequence  even  while 
neglecting  to  be  ruled  in  their  lives  by  the  principles  they 
professed.  In  this  small  community  of  less  than  6000 
there  were  churchmen  from  England  and  Barbadoes, 
Independents  from  England,  Old  and  New,  Baptists  from 
Maine,  and  Huguenots  from  France  and  Switzerland ;  all 
zealous  of  their  peculiar  religious  tenets  and  many,  if 
not  most,  with  the  tenacity  of  bigotry  and  fanaticism. 
Carolina  was  a  Church  of  England  province  under  its 
charter,  and  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  while  offering 
the  greatest  religious  freedom,  provided  only  that  God 
was  acknowledged  and  publicly  and  solemnly  worshipped, 
still  provided  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
that  church.  Every  one  that  came  to  the  colony  came 
with  full  notice  of  these  provisions.     Yet  the  Proprietors 


330  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

could  truthfully  write  to  Archdale  that  Carolina  was 
looked  upon  as  a  place  of  refuge  and  safe  retreat  from 
arbitrary  government  and  the  inconveniences  of  other 
places.^  But  it  was  inevitable  that  the  Old  World's  ani- 
mosities must  needs  soon  break  out  among  these  various 
people.  They  had,  indeed,  been  alive  from  the  very 
planting  of  the  colony. 

It  is  not  certainly  known,  as  we  have  before  observed, 
when  the  first  clergyman  appeared  in  the  colony,  or  when  the 
first  church  was  built.  Dalcho  places  at  the  head  of  his  list 
of  the  clergy  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Morgan  Jones,  as  arriving 
in  1660,  but  does  not  mention  such  a  person  in  the  text  of 
his  work.  Dalcho's  authority  for  this  is  a  letter  written 
by  this  person  in  New  York,  March  10,  1685-86,  in  which 
he  claims  to  have  been  sent  from  Virginia  by  Sir  William 
Berkeley,  to  meet  the  fleet  from  Barbadoes  and  Bermuda 
under  West.  He  states  that  as  soon  as  the  fleet  came  in, 
the  small  vessels  with  them  sailed  "up  the  River"  to  a 
place  called  Oyster  Point,  where  he  remained  for  eight 
months.^  If  the  writer  met  the  expedition,  it  is  clear  that 
he  antedated  the  event  by  ten  years.  He  states  that  he 
remained  in  the  colony  at  Oyster  Point  for  eight  months. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  colony  first  settled  Old  Town  on 
the  Ashley  in  1670  and  was  not  removed  to  Oyster  Point 
until  1680.  Nor  can  we  reconcile  his  statement  by  suppos- 
ing it  a  mere  mistake  as  to  the  date,  for  the  date  was  the 
very  point  about  which  his  letter  was  written,  the  object  of 
it  being  to  show  that  the  title  of  England  to  America  by  pos- 
session was  prior  to  that  of  Spain;  moreover,  even  upon  the 
supposition  of  a  mistake  as  to  the  date,  we  remember  that, 
on  June  25, 1670,  at  the  very  time  Morgan  Jones  would  thus 
claim  to  have  been  in  the  colony,  i.e.  eight  months  after  the 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  138. 

2  Gentleman^s  Magazine,  for  March,  1740,  vol.  X,  103,  104. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  331 

arrival  of  the  fleet,  from  March  to  October,  1670,  Sayle  wrote 
to  Lord  Ashley  about  the  want  of  a  minister,  asking  that  one 
should  be  sent,  —  a  request  which  was  renewed  by  Sayle  and 
others  in  the  September  following.  The  letter  we  are  con- 
strained to  believe  a  mere  fabrication. ^  Mr.  Bond,  for  whom 
Governor  Sayle  applied  in  1670,  certainly  did  not  come  out. 
We  have  no  account  of  the  building  of  any  church  in 
Old  Town  on  the  Ashley,  though  Culpepper  supposed  that 
a  tract  marked  out  as  reserved  by  the  Proprietors  was 
intended  for  a  minister.  It  is  possible  that  the  Rev.  Atkin 
Williamson  may  have  officiated  there.  The  removal  of  the 
town  took  place  in  1680,  and  in  the  plan  of  the  new  town, 
1672,  as  we  have  seen,  a  place  had  been  reserved  for  the 
building  of  a  church,  but  no  church  had  been  built  when 
Thomas  Ash  arrived  with  the  first  Huguenots  in  1680.  In 
a  deed  dated  January  14,  1680-81,  by  which  four  acres  of 
land  were  granted  to  Mr.  Williamson,  it  is  recited  that  the 
donors,  Originall  Jackson  and  Meliscent  his  wife,  "  being 
excited  with  a  pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  true 
religion  which  we  profess,  have  for  and  in  consideration  of 
the  divine  service  according  to  the  form  and  liturgy  now 
established  to  be  duly  and  solemnly  performed  by  Atkin 
Williamson  cleric  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever  in  our 
church  or  house  of  worship  to  be  erected  and  built  upon 
our  piece  or  parcel  of  ground."  ^  It  is  not  known  that  Mr. 
Jackson  owned  any  land  in  or  near  the  town.  He  did  own 
land  on  the  Wando  or  Cooper  River.  The  description  of 
the  land  in  the  deed  does  not  allow  of  its  identification. 
It  is  probable  that  this  was  an  attempt  to  establish  a  church 

1  It  is  strange  that  Bishop  Perry,  in  his  Hist,  of  the  Amer.  Episcopal 
Ch.  (vol.  I,  372),  should  have  adopted  this  extraordinary  statement  with- 
out examination,  particularly  as  it  was  inconsistent  with  his  statements 
in  the  very  next  paragraph  of  his  work. 

a  Dalcho's  (Jh.  Hist.,  26. 


332  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

in  the  country  in  which  Mr.  Williamson  was  expected  to 
officiate,  as  well  as  in  the  town ;  ^  but  this  is  mere  con- 
jecture. Mr.  Williamson,  in  1709,  petitioned  the  General 
Assembly  "to  be  considered  for  his  services  in  officiating 
as  minister  of  Charles  Town " ;  and  the  act  of  1710-11, 
appropriating  X30  per  annum  for  his  support,  states  that 
he  "  had  grown  so  disabled  with  age,  sickness  and  other 
infirmities,  that  he  could  no  longer  attend  to  the  duties  of 
his  ministerial  function,  and  was  so  poor  that  he  could  not 
maintain  himself."  ^  As  we  have  before  concluded,  it  is 
possible  that  Mr.  Williamson  came  out  in  1680.  There 
was  a  clergyman  in  Carolina  in  1689,  for  it  was  one  of  the 
tyrannical  acts  of  Colleton  that  he  fined  and  imprisoned 
him  for  preaching  what  he  considered  a  seditious  sermon ;  ^ 
but  who  this  was,  whether  Mr.  Williamson  or  another,  is  not 
known.  Mr.  Marshall,  as  we  have  just  seen,  had  come  out 
to  be  the  minister  at  Charles  Town,  but  died  of  yellow  fever 
in  1699,  before  he  had  been  three  years  in  the  province. 

Mr.  Marshall  was  an  amiable,  learned,  and  pious  man, 
whose  conduct  and  talents  had  given  great  satisfaction, 
and  during  whose  short  career  much  was  done  to  es- 
tablish the  church  upon  a  firm  basis.  Though  Governor 
Blake  was  not  himself  a  churchman,  an  act  was  passed 
during  his  administration,  October  3,  1698,  "to  settle 
a  maintenance  on  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  Charles  Town."  Oldmixon  claims  great  credit  for 
his  patron,  Governor  Blake,  for  the  passage  and  allow- 
ance of  this  provision  as  an  act  of  grace  upon  his  part, 
though  he  was  a  dissenter;*  but  the   recital  of  the  act 

1  Bishop  Perry  is  again  mistaken  in  supposing*  that  it  was  upon  this 
land  that  the  first  church,  i.e.  St.  Philip's,  was  built. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  32.     See  ante,  p.  332. 

*  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  410. 

*  Oldmixon,  Carolina,  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  417. 


tJUDER   THE   PROPRIETARlf  GOVERNMENT  333 

(which  is  important,  too,  in  regard  to  what  was  soon  to 
follow)  places  its  enactment  upon  the  proper  ground, 
namely,  that  of  a  compliance  with  the  charter  of  the 
pro  vision. 1 

The  act  appropriated  a  salary  of  <£150  per  annum  to 
the  ministers  of  Charles  Town,  and  directed  that  a 
negro  man  and  woman  and  four  cows  and  calves  be 
purchased  for  his  use,  and  paid  for  out  of  the  public 
treasury .2  In  the  same  year,  Affra  Coming,  the  widow 
of  John  Coming,  made  a  deed,  by  which  she  gave  to 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Marshall,  minister  of  the  Gospel  in 
Charles  Town,  and  to  his  successors,  appointed  under  the 
act  just  passed,  seventeen  acres  of  land  adjoining  the 
town  as  a  glebe.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Mai-shall, 
the  Governor  and  Council  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  asking  him  to  send  another  minister, 
telling  him  of  the  provision  made  for  his  support,  and 

^  Dr.  Humphrey,  the  secretary  and  historian  of  the  "  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  states  that  upon  an  inquiry 
instituted  by  Dr.  Compton,  Bishop  of  London,  it  was  ascertained  that 
though  in  the  year  1701  there  were  above  7000  persons  besides  negroes 
and  Indians  in  South  Carolina,  and  though  the  province  was  already 
divided  into  several  parishes  and  towns,  there  was  until  the  year  1701  no 
minister  of  the  Church  of  England  resident  in  the  colony  at  the  time. 
(Hist.  Account  of  the  Soc.  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  etc. ,  25.) 
This  statement  is  altogether  inaccurate  :  (1)  There  were  not  that  number 
of  persons  in  the  colony  at  the  time  (Drayton's  View  of  So.  Ca.,  193 ; 
Dalcho's  Ch.  IIist.,,S9);  (2)  the  province  was  not  then  divided  into  par- 
ishes ;  there  was  but  one  town  ;  and  (3)  there  were  at  that  time  at  least 
two  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  resident  and  officiating  in  the 
colony.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Marshall,  rector  of  St.  Philip's,  had  died  in 
1699,  but  Mr.  Edward  Marston  had  arrived  and  taken  his  place  in  1700. 
The  Rev.  William  Corbin  was  officiating  in  Goose  Creek;  and  the 
Kev.  Atkin  Williamson  was  also  in  the  province,  though  probably 
disabled. 

2  Dalcho's /C^.  Hist.,  33.  This  act  is  not  found  in  the  statutes.  The 
salary  was  probably  payable  in  currency. 


334  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

that  a  good  brick  house  had  been  built  for  him  upon  the 
land  given  by  Mr.  Coming. 

The  first  church,  which  was  known  as  St.  Philip's,  was 
built,  as  before  stated,  upon  the  spot  reserved  for  it, 
upon  the  original  plat  of  the  town,  i.e.  where  St. 
Michael's  now  stands.  Dalcho  fixes  the  date  of  the 
erection  at  about  1681  or  1682,  but  there  is  nothing  cer- 
tainly known  upon  the  subject.  It  was  "large  and 
stately,"  it  was  said,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  neat 
white  palisade.  It  was  built  of  black  cypress  upon  a 
brick  foundation.  Mrs.  Blake,  wife  of  the  Governor, 
subsequently  contributed  liberally  towards  its  adornment, 
though  not  herself  a  member  of  the  church.^ 

The  Rev.  Francis  Mackensie,  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man of  Donegal,  Ireland,  it  is  said,  visited  Carolina  in 
the  fall  of  1683,  with  serious  thoughts  of  settling  at 
Charles  Town;  but  from  the  little  encouragement  he 
received,  he  changed  his  destination  to  Virginia.^  Of 
the  Rev.  William  Dunlop,  who  came  out  with  the  Scotch 
colony  and  settled  at  Port  Royal  in  1684,  we  have 
already  spoken.^ 

The  mixed  Presbyterian  and  Independent  Church, 
known  by  various  names,  —  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the 
White  Meeting,*  the  Independent  Church,  the  New  Eng- 
land Meeting,  the  Circular  Church,  —  was  first  organized 
some  time  between  1680  and  1690.  It  was  at  first  com- 
posed of  Presbyterians  chiefly  from  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
Congregationalists  from  Old  and  New  England,  and  some 
of  the  French  Huguenots,  who  were  strictly  Presbyterian 
in  their  form  of  church  government.     The   first  known 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  26. 

«  Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  76,  77. 

8  Ante^  p.  215. 

*  "Whence  the  name  of  "  Meeting  Street." 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  335 

Presbyterian  minister  in  the  province,  excepting  the  Rev. 
William  Dunlop  at  Port  Royal,  was  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Barret,  in  1685.  His  ministry  was  but  temporary.  The 
first  regular  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Pierpont,  in 
1691.  He  died  January  8,  1697-98,  and  was  succeeded  by 
a  Mr.  Adams,  of  whom  little  is  known ;  and  he  by  John 
Cotton  of  Boston,  who  sailed  from  Charles  Town  Novem- 
ber, 1688,  and  died  September,  1699 ;  and  he  by  the  Rev. 
William  Stobo,  upon  his  providential  escape  from  the 
disastrous  shipwreck  and  stranding  upon  the  shores  of 
Carolina.  It  is  not  known  when  the  original  building 
used  by  the  church  was  erected.  It  was  but  forty  feet 
square  and  slightly  built.^  The  site  whereon  the  present 
church  stands  was  given  by  "  Madame  Symonds  "  October 
23,  1704.  It  was  long  known  as  the  "White  Meeting." 2 
The  first  church  of  the  French  Protestants,  known  as 
the  Huguenot  Church,  was  erected  at  some  time  between 
the  years  1687  and  1693.  On  the  5th  of  May,  1687,  the 
lot  whereon  the  present  church  stands  was  conveyed  by 
Ralph  Izard  and  Mary,  his  wife,  to  James  Nichols  "for 
the  use  of  the  commonalty  of  the  French  Church  in 
Charles  Town  " ;  ^  and  in  1693,  the  congregation  complained 
to  the  Lords  Proprietors  that  they  were  required  to  begin 

1  Howe's  Hist.  Fresh.  Ch.,  124,  126,  145. 

2  Ibid.,  124. 

3  It  has  been  supposed  probable  that  the  Huguenots  built  their  first 
sanctuary  upon  the  site  of  the  present  church  early  in  the  year  1681. 
(See  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston,  1885,  297.)  This  theory  is  based 
upon  the  supposition  that  Michael  Lovinge,  the  grantee  of  this  lot,  was 
but  a  trustee  for  the  church.  But  the  record  shows  that  this  is  a 
mistake.  Michael  Lovinge,  the  grantee,  described  as  a  "sawyer,"  con- 
veyed the  lot  to  Arthur  Middleton,  the  24th  of  November,  1684.  Arthur 
Middleton  by  will  devised  it  to  his  daughter  Mary,  who,  with  her  husband 
Ralph  Izard,  conveyed  it  to  James  Nichols  for  the  church,  as  stated  in 
the  text.  See  Records,  Secretary  of  Staters  Office  Book,  marked  "  Grants, 
Sales,"  etc.,  1704-1708,  250. 


S^^  aiSl^ORY  OP   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

their  divine  worship  at  the  same  time  as  the  English  do, 
which  was  very  inconvenient,  as  several  of  them  lived  out 
of  the  town  and  came  by  water  to  attend  their  service, 
and  had  to  depend  upon  the  tides.^  There  must,  then, 
have  been  a  place  of  worship  in  which  the  congregation 
was  accustomed  to  assemble  before  1693,  and  it  is  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  was  upon  the  spot  they 
had  purchased  for  the  purpose. ^  The  Rev.  Elias  Prioleau, 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Pons,  who,  upon  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  left  France  with  a  considerable 
number  of  his  congregation  in  April,  1686,  and  came  to 
Carolina,  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  this  church  in 
conjunction  with  the  Rev.  Florente  Philippe  Trouillard, 
who  were  its  first  ministers.  They  served  the  church 
as  colleagues,  and  probably  without  compensation,  both 
ministers  and  people  being  dependent  alike  on  secular 
emplojT^ment. 

One  Cesar  Moze,  a  French  refugee,  by  his  will  written 
in  his  native  language,  dated  June  20,  1687,  bequeathed  to 
the  church  of  the  French  refugees  in  Charles  Town,  trente 
sept  lieures  (thirty-seven  livres)  to  assist  in  building  a 
house  of  worship  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  plantation 
on  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Cooper  River.^  As  already 
mentioned,  it  is  probable  that  Elias  Prioleau  ministered 
to  this  congregation.  The  Rev.  de  La  Pierre  is  supposed 
to  have  been  their  first  pastor.     There  was  another  settle- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  438. 

2  Howe's  Hist.  Fresh.  Ch.,  109.  Mr.  Fraser,  in  his  Beminiscences  of 
Charleston,  says  that  the  great  fire  of  June,  1796,  "burnt  the  original 
French  Church  where  the  Huguenot  refugees  worshipped  for  upwards  of 
a  century  previous  to  that  time."  (pp.  33,  34.)  But  Shecut  states  that 
the  original  church  (which  he  says  was  built  in  1701)  was  burnt  in  1740 
with  all  its  records. 

8  Probate  office,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Will  Book;  Howe's  Hist. 
Presb.  Ch.,  108. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  337 

ment  and  church  of  the  Huguenots  on  the  western  branch 
of  Cooper  River,  of  which  Anthony  Cordes,  un  mSdecin, 
who  arrived  in  Charles  Town  in  1686,  was  one  of  the 
founders.  Their  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Florente  Philippe 
Trouillard,  whom  we  have  just  found  associated  with  Elias 
Prioleau  in  the  pastorship  of  the  church  in  Charles  Town. 
The  Rev.  Pierre  Robert  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  church 
in  French  Santee.  Indeed,  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
Calvinistic  minister  who  preached  in  South  Carolina ;  and 
it  is  deemed  questionable  whether  this  church  was  not 
older  even  than  that  in  Charles  Town.  The  Huguenots 
on  Goose  Creek  are  not  known  to  have  formed  an  organ- 
ized congregation.^ 

Most  of  the  members  of  the  Baptist  colony  had  moved 
to  Charles  Town  before  1693.  At  first  their  meetings 
were  held  in  the  house  of  William  Chapman  in  King 
Street.  In  1699  William  Elliott,  one  of  the  members, 
gave  the  church  the  lot  of  land  on  Church  Street  on  which 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Charleston  now  stands,  and  a 
house  of  worship  was  erected  on  this  lot  in  that  or  the 
year  following.^ 

No  considerable  groups  of  settlers  are  known  to  have 
emigrated  to  South  Carolina  between  the  years  1696  and 
1730,  nor  does  the  white  population  appear  to  have  in- 

1  Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  111-113.  There  is,  however,  an  old  plat  of 
a  plantation  on  one  of  the  head  branches  of  Goose  Creek,  made  by  Joseph 
Purcell,  Surveyor,  in  July,  1785,  on  which  a  spot  is  marked  "  Remains  of 
a  French  Church."  See  Deed,  Mesne  Conveyance  Office  Book  G,  No.  6, 
95. 

2  Hist,  of  the  First  Baptist  Ch..,  55.  The  first  church  building  was, 
however,  abandoned  for  another  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  street  in 
1746,  the  old  lot  on  the  west  side  continuing  to  be  the  burial-ground  of 
the  members.  The  present  edifice  on  the  old  lot  on  the  west  side  was 
erected  in  1822,  and  the  building  on  the  east  became  the  Mariners' 
Church,  which  was  destroyed  in  the  earthquake  of  1886.  See  Shecut's 
Essays,  5,  29. 

z 


338  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLll^A 

creased  at  all  until  after  1715.  In  1699  it  was,  as  we 
know,  probably  about  5500.  In  1708,  as  we  shall  here- 
after see,  it  had  actually  declined  to  4080.  There  was  a 
decrease  also  in  the  number  of  negroes  during  this  period. 
The  losses  by  smallpox  and  yellow  fever  will  probably 
account  for  much  of  this ;  but  the  neglect  and  mismanage- 
ment of  the  Proprietors,  and  the  struggle  over  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  church  which  we  are  soon  to  record,  no 
doubt  retarded  the  progress  of  the  colony.  We  may 
assume,  therefore,  that  the  proportion  of  the  various  de- 
nominations in  the  colony  was  about  the  same  in  1710  as 
it  was  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  treating.  In  a 
letter  written  in  that  year  by  a  Swiss  gentleman  in  Charles 
Town  to  his  friend  at  Bern,  it  is  stated  that  the  propor- 
tions that  the  several  parties  in  religion  bore  to  the  whole 
and  to  each  other  were  as  follows :  Church  of  England  4^ 
to  10 ;  Presbyterians,  including  those  French  who  retained 
their  own  discipline,  4|^  to  10 ;  Anabaptists  1  to  10  and 
Quakers  ^  to  10.^  In  this  estimate,  for  it  is  nothing 
more.  Independents  and  Congregationalists,  as  well  as 
Huguenots,  are  included  as  Presbyterians.  There  were  in 
the  colony  at  this  time  eight  ministers  of  the  Church  of 
England,  three  French  Protestants,  two  of  whom  had 
accepted  Episcopal  rule  and  observed  the  services  of  the 
church,  four  of  British  Presbyterians,  one  of  Anabaptists. 
The  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  had,  by  the  act  of 
1706,  each  <£100  per  annum  from  the  public  treasury  be- 
sides contributions  and  perquisites  from  their  parishioners. 
The  dissenting  ministers  were  maintained  by  voluntary 
contributions.^ 

In  1701  a  movement  was  consummated  in  London  by 

1  Howe's ^His«.  Fresh.  Ch.y  163;  A  Letter  from  So.  Ca..,  etc.,  London, 
1722  (second  edition),  46. 

2  Ibid.,  and  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  432. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  339 

the  formation  and  incorporation  of  "  The  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  which  exer- 
cised a  great  influence  in  this  colony,  not  only  in  religious 
matters,  but  in  the  education  of  its  youth.  Several  eminent 
persons,  observing  the  want  of  clergy  in  the  colonies  of 
England  and  probably  also  the  unfortunate  character  of 
some  who  had  gone  out  to  the  provinces,  had  for  some 
time  before  contributed  to  an  effort  for  recovering  their 
countrymen  abroad  from  irreligion  and  darkness.  Fel- 
lowships had  been  established  in  Oxford,  the  beneficiaries  of 
which  should  be  under  obligation  to  take  holy  orders  for 
service  in  his  Majesty's  foreign  plantations,  and  salaries 
were  provided  for  "preaching  ministers." 

The  society  resolved  not  to  obtrude  the  Episcopal 
services  upon  the  colonists  against  their  wishes.  They 
did  not,  therefore,  send  missionaries  until  applications 
were  made  for  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England,  nor 
until  they  were  assured  that  adequate  means  would  be 
provided  for  their  comfort  and  support.  So  liberal,  indeed, 
was  this  society  that  in  some  instances  they  supported 
clergymen  who  were  not  episcopally  ordained.  As  in- 
stances :  the  two  Huguenots,  the  Rev.  de  La  Pierre  of  St. 
Denis  and  Rev.  P.  de  Richbourg  of  St.  James,  Santee 
(1715-20).  The  society  was  very  minute  in  its  instruc- 
tions to  the  clergy  they  employed.  They  were  to  keep  in 
view  the  great  design  of  their  undertaking;  to  promote 
the  glory  of  Almighty  God  and  the  salvation  of  men,  by 
propagating  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  The 
directions  in  regard  to  the  instruction  of  negroes  were  still 
more  minute  and  explicit,  containing  the  simple  statement 
in  logical  order  and  consequence  of  the  substance  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

The  society  was  equally  careful  in  its  directions  to  their 
schoolmasters,  and  impressed  upon  them  that  the  end  of 


340  HISTOKY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

their  employment  was  the  instructing  and  disposing  chil- 
dren to  believe  and  live  as  Christians.  They  were  re- 
quired to  oblige  their  scholars  to  attend  regularly  upon 
the  services  of  the  church  and  to  have  them  publicly  cate- 
chised. "  They  were  to  take  special  care  of  their  manners 
both  in  and  out  of  school;  warning  them  seriously  of 
those  vices  to  which  children  are  most  liable ;  teaching 
them  to  abhor  lying  and  falsehood  and  to  avoid  all  sorts 
of  evil  speaking ;  to  love  truth  and  honesty ;  to  be  modest 
gentle  well-behaved,  just  and  affable,  courteous  to  all 
their  companions ;  respectful  to  their  superiors  particu- 
larly towards  all  that  minister  in  holy  things  and  espe- 
cially to  the  minister  of  their  Parish."  ^ 

These  instructions  of  the  sooiety  are  particularly  perti- 
nent to  the  history  of  South  Carolina,  as  it  was  in  this 
province  that  the  society  commenced  its  labors,  and  in- 
deed did  the  most  of  its  work.  Its  influence  remained 
not  only  in  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  people,  but  in 
their  system  of  education,  which  the  masters  from  Oxford 
sent  out  by  them,  based  upon  a  classical  foundation. 

The  first  missionary  sent  out  by  the  society  upon  the 
application  of  the  Governor  and  Council  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Thomas,  who  was  appointed  in  June,  1702.  His 
original  mission  was  not  to  the  colonists,  but  to  the  Yam- 
assee  Indians,  who  surrounded  the  settlements ;  but 
Governor  Johnson,  not  deeming  it  a  convenient  season  foi 
that  duty,  appointed  him  to  the  care  of  the  church  at 
Goose  Creek.  His  ministry,  however,  though  attended 
with  considerable  success,  was  but  a  brief  one  ;  on  his 
return  from  England,  to  which  he  had  gone  on  a  visit,  he 
died  in  1705. 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  60. 


CHAPTER  XV 

1700 

At  the  opening  of  the  new  century,  says  Rivers,  we 
must  cease  to  look  upon  South  Carolina  as  the  home  of 
indigent  emigrants  struggling  for  subsistence.^  The  colony 
had  now  substantial  numbei-s,  and  its  various  elements 
had  begun  to  settle  themselves  into  somewhat  of  a  com- 
munity. The  spirit  of  adventure  had,  in  a  measure  at  least, 
given  way  to  the  moie  sober  purpose  of  citizenship.  A 
review  of  its  material  condition  will  show  what  had  been 
accomplished  in  the  thirty  years  since  the  arrival  of  the 
first  emigrants. 

The  population,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  about  5500 
besides  Indians  and  negroes,  was  still  clustered  around 
the  town  in  a  comparatively  small  area ;  more  than  half, 
about  3000,  were  inhabitants  of  the  town.  There  were,  at 
least,  250  families  residing  in  it,  many  of  them  having  ten 
or  twelve  children  each.  The  town  still,  however,  com- 
prised only  the  space  between  the  bay  and  the  present 
Meeting  Street.  The  principal  street  running  through 
its  whole  length  was  the  present  Church  Street.  The 
cross  streets  were  Queen,  Broad,  Elliot,  and  Tradd,  though 
not  then  bearing  these  names.  It  was  fortified,  says  Old- 
mixon,  more  for  beauty  than  strength.  It  had  six  bastions, 
and  a  line  all  around  it.  There  were  three  bastions  on 
Cooper  River.  Craven  Bastion  was  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  town,  at  the  end  of  wliat  is  now  Market  Street ; 

1  Chapter  in  Colonial  Hist.  (Rivers). 
341 


342  '    HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Blake's  Bastion  at  the  end  of  Broad  Street,  about  where 
now  stands  the  Old  Exchange,  the  postoffice ;  Granville's 
Bastion  stood  where  the  battery  now  begins.  From  this 
point  a  creek  ran  up  what  is  now  Water  Street,  and  a  line 
of  palisades  extended  on  its  northern  bank,  through  what 
is  now  Stoll's  Alley  and  the  Baptist  churchyard,  to  the 
corner  of  Tradd  Street ;  thence  along  what  is  now  Meet- 
ing Street  to  Cumberland ;  the  northern  line  running 
diagonally  from  about  the  corner  of  Meeting  and  Cumber- 
land to  what  is  now  Market  Wharf.  At  the  intersection 
of  Broad  Street  was  a  half-moon,  a  little  later  called  John- 
son's Raveline,  across  which  there  was  a  drawbridge. 
Carteret  Bastion  was  on  the  northwest  corner,  where 
Cumberland  and  Meeting  streets  now  meet. 

The  only  public  buildings  were  the  churches,  an  account 
of  which  was  given  in  the  last  chapter.  Charles  Town  was 
the  market  town,  and  thither  the  whole  product  of  the 
province  was  brought  for  sale.^  Archdale  declares  that 
the  road  out  of  the  town,  which  he  says  was  called  the 
Broadway,  was  so  delightful  a  road  and  walk,  so  beautiful 
with  odoriferous  and  fragrant  woods,  and  pleasantly  green 
all  the  year,  that  he  believed  no  prince  in  Europe,  by  all 
his  art,  could  make  so  pleasant  a  sight.^  There  were  also 
several  fine  streets  in  the  town,  says  Oldmixon,  and  some 
very  handsome  buildings,  as  Mr.  Landgrave  Smith's  house 
on  the  bay,  with  a  drawbridge  and  wharf  to  it;  Colonel 
Rhett's,  also  on  the  bay,  and  with  drawbridge  and  wharf. 
He  mentions  also  Mr.  Boone's,  Mr.  Logan's,  Mr.  Schin- 
kingh's,  and  ten  or  twelve  others  which  deserve  notice. 
There  was  a  public  library  in  the  town,  he  says,  and  a  free 
school  was  talked  of.^ 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  610  (Oldmixon). 

2  Arch  lale,  in  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  95. 
^  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  511, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  343 

Lawson,  who  wrote  about  the  same  time,  gave  this  de- 
scription :  ^  — 

"  The  Town,"  he  says,  "  has  very  regular  and  fair  Streets 
in  which  are  good  Buildings  of  Brick  and  Wood,  and  since 
my  coming  thence  has  had  great  Additions  of  beautiful, 
large  Brick  building  besides  a  strong  Fort  and  regular 
Fortifications  to  defend  the  Town.  The  inhabitants  by 
their  wise  Management  and  Industry  have  much  improved 
the  Country  which  is  in  as  thriving  Circumstances  at  this 
time  as  any  Colony  on  the  Continent  of  English  America, 
and  is  of  far  more  Advantage  to  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain  than  any  of  the  other  more  Northerly  Plantations 
^Virginia  and  iJfarz/Zaw^  excepted).  This  colony  was  at 
first  planted  by  a  genteel  sort  of  People  that  were  well 
acquainted  with  Trade  and  had  either  Money  or  Parts  to 
make  good  use  of  the  Advantages  that  offered  as  most  of 
them  have  done  by  raising  themselves  to  great  Estates 
and  considerable  Places  of  Trust  and  Posts  of  Honour  in 
this  thriving  Settlement.  Since  the  first  Planters  abun- 
dance of  French  and  others  have  gone  over  and  rais'd 
themselves  to  considerable  Fortunes.  They  are  very  neat 
and  exact  in  Packing  and  Shipping  their  Commodities ; 
which  Method  has  got  them  so  great  a  Character  abroad 
that  they  generally  come  to  a  good  Market  with  their 
Commodities,  when  often  times  the  Product  of  other 
Plantations  are  forc'd  to  be  sold  at  lower  Prizes.  They 
have  a  considerable  Trade  both  to  Europe  and  the  West 
Indies  whereby  they  become  rich  and  are  supply'd  with 
all  Things  necessary  for  Trade  and  genteel  Living  which 
several  other  Places  fall  short  of.  Their  cohabiting  in  a 
Town  has  drawn  to  them  People  of  most  Sciences,  whereby 
they  have  Tutors  amongst  them  that  educate  their  Youth 
a-la-mode." 

1  A  Nev)  Voyage  to  Carolina^  etc.,  2,  3, 


344  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  first  act  in  order  of  time  found  remaining  when  the 
statutes  were  compiled  in  1837  was  one  entitled  '•^  An  act 
for  the  settling  of  a  pilot,'^  April  11,  1685.^  It  was,  how- 
ever, so  defaced  as  to  be  illegible,  but  we  have  preserved 
one  passed  under  Sothell,  March  25,  1691,  no  doubt  based 
upon  that  of  1685.  This  appointed  three  regular  pilots 
who  were  required  to  make  it  their  business  to  look  out 
for  ships  coming  into  the  harbor,  regulating  their  conduct 
and  prescribing  the  rates  of  pilotage .^  In  1694  an  addition 
to  this  act  was  made  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
watch  on  Sullivan's  Island  as  well.^  In  1696  this  was 
again  added  to  and  amended,  and  rates  for  bringing  in 
vessels  by  the  different  channels  prescribed.*  These  pilots 
Lawson  found  on  duty  when  he  arrived  in  1700.^  There 
was  need  of  them;  for  from  the  town  could  now  be  seen 
entering  the  harbor  vessels  from  Jamaica,  Barbadoes,  and 
the  Leeward  Islands,  from  Virginia  and  the  other  colonies, 
and  the  always  welcome  ships  from  England.  About 
twelve  of  these  ships  were  owned  by  the  colonists,  half 
of  which  were  built  by  themselves.^  These  were,  however, 
small;  for,  unhappily,  the  bar  across  the  mouth  of  the  harbor 
admitted  no  ships  of  above  200  tons.''  Archdale,  writing 
in  1707,  says  he  could  demonstrate  what  a  great  advantage 
Carolina  is  to  the  trade  of  England  by  consuming  com- 
modities from  thither,  and  by  bringing  great  duties  to  the 

1  Statutes,  vol.  II,  3.  s  i^cl.,  93. 

2  Ibid.,  50.  4  Ibid.,  127. 
^  A  Neio  Voyage  to  Carolina,  6. 

^  Chapter  in  Colonial  Hist.  (Rivers). 

■^  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  570. 

Yet  in  an  offer  made  by  the  Assembly  in  1703  to  supply  a  frigate  with 
provisions,  if  one  should  be  sent  from  England  to  cruise  on  the  coast,  it 
is  said  that  Charles  Town  bar  had  "thirteen  feet  of  water  at  high  tide- 
water at  neap  tides,  and  fifteen  feet  at  spring  tides  at  least,"  and  Port 
Royal  eighteen  feet  at  low  tides  and  twenty-four  at  high  water  on  ordi- 
nary tides.     Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  202,  note. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNlSrENT  345 

Crown  by  importing  goods  or  commodities  thence :  "  For 
Charles  Town  trades  near  1000  miles  into  the  continent." 
That  notwithstanding  all  the  discouragements  the  town 
had  met  withal,  yet  seventeen  ships  that  year  came  thence 
to  London  in  the  Virginia  fleet  laden  from  Carolina  with 
rice,  skins,  pitch,  and  tar,  besides  several  stragglers.^ 

The  neck  of  land  between  Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers, 
about  six  miles  in  length,  was  well  settled.  One  passed 
about  this  time,  in  riding  up  the  road  which  Archdale 
described  as  so  beautiful,  the  plantations  of  Mathews, 
Green,  Starkey,  Gray,  Grimball,  Dickeson,  and  Izard  on 
the  Cooper ;  and  further  up  those  of  Sir  John  Yeamans, 
Landgrave  Bellinger,  Colonel  Gibbs,  Mr.  Schenkingh, 
Colonel  Moore,  and  Colonel  Quarry.  On  the  Ashley  Land- 
grave West,  Colonel  Godfrey,  and  Dr.  Trevillian  had  planta- 
tions. Goose  Creek  was  thickly  settled.  On  the  western 
branch  of  the  Cooper  River  the  most  noted  plantations 
were  "  Coming  T,"  the  plantation  of  Captain  John  Com- 
ings, the  same  who  had  come  out  with  Halsted,  and  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson's  "  Silk  Hope."  In  Colleton  County 
lived  Colonel  Paul  Grimball,  Landgraves  Morton,  Blake, 
and  Axtell,  and  Mr.  Boone.  There  were  two  small  towns 
or  hamlets  besides  Charles  Town,  —  Wiltown  or  New 
London  on  the  South  Edisto,  containing  about  eighty 
houses,  and  Dorchester  at  the  head  of  the  Ashley,  con- 
taining  about  350  souls.^ 

The  Governor  generally  resided  in  Charles  Town  and 
the  Assembly  sat  there,  as  well  as  the  newly  established 
courts.  There  also  the  public  offices  were  kept  and  the 
business  of  the  province  transacted. 

The  first  fortunes  in  Carolina  were  made  in  the  Indian 
trade,  a  trade  which  the  Proprietors  jealously  endeavored 

1  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  97. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am.^  vol.  I,  512,  513. 


346  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

to  appropriate  to  themselves.  Guns,  powder  and  shot, 
beads,  trinkets,  bright-colored  cloaks,  blankets,  and  rum 
were  exchanged  for  skins  and  furs  of  wild  animals  and 
other  Indian  pelfry.  With  the  exception  of  rice,  the  furs 
and  skins  obtained  from  the  Indians  continued  to  be  the 
most  valuable  commodity  in  the  colonial  trade  as  late  as 
1747.1 

Dr.  Henry  Woodward,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the 
first  explorer  of  the  province.  From  his  sojourn  with  the 
Indians,  when  left  by  Sandford  in  1666,  he  became  an 
interpreter  of  their  languages,  and  as  such  was  employed 
by  the  Governor  and  Council  in  their  communications  and 
treaties  with  them.  In  1671  Sir  John  Yeamans  sent  him 
to  Virginia  upon  an  expedition  of  discovery,  upon  which 
occasion,  reciting  the  hazardous  and  dangerous  nature  of 
the  adventure  he  was  about  to  undertake,  he  executed  a 
will  of  all  his  property  in  Sir  John's  favor,  which  will  is 
among  the  first  records  of  the  colony.^  There  were  many 
complaints  to  the  Proprietors  of  this  mission,  implying 
that  the  expedition  was  for  the  private  advantage  of  Sir 
John  and  himself.  Dalton,  the  Secretary,  wrote  that  it 
might  "be  dangerous  to  follow  the  fancies  of  roving 
heads,"  and  asked  that  a  skilful  engineer  should  be  sent.^ 
Woodward  was  still  employed,  however,  by  the  Proprie- 
tors, and  in  1674  was  commissioned  to  treat  with  the 
Indians  of  Edisto  for  the  purchase  of  that  island,  and 
was  allowed  to  have  one-fifth  of  the  profits  of  the  Indian 
trade.*  He  was  evidently  not  a  favorite  of  Governor 
West,  during  whose   administration   he   appears  to  have 

1  Governor  Glen's  Description  of  So.  Ca.,  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  234- 
237. 

2  Probate  office,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  Secretary  of  State'^ 
office,  Columbia,  South  Carolina. 

8  Calendar  State  Papers^  Colonial^  1670-74,  736-746. 
*  Ibid.,  1287, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT     ^       347 

been  convicted  of  some  misdemeanor  by  the  Grand  Coun- 
cil and  condemned  to  pay  £100;  a  part  of  which  he  paid, 
and  left  the  province.  The  Proprietors,  however,  pardoned 
him ;  and  again,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1682,  commissioned 
him  to  return  to  Carolina  and  make  further  explorations.^ 
There  is  no  account  of  his  subsequent  career. 

In  Archdale's  time,  as  we  have  said,  Charles  Town 
traded  near  1000  miles  into  the  Continent.^  Among  the 
principal  Indian  traders  were  Colonel  Bull,  Governor 
Blake,  and  James  Moore.^  James  Moore,  who  first  ap- 
peared as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  people  in  1684,  was 
also  a  great  adventurer  and  Indian  trader.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Council  as  deputy  of  Sir  John  Colleton, 
and  Secretary  of  the  province.  He  it  was  of  whom  Ran- 
dolph wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  in  March,  1P98-99,  that 
he  had  heard  one  of  the  Council  (a  great  Indian  trader 
who  had  been  600  miles  up  in  the  country  west  of  Charles 
Town)  declare  that  the  only  way  to  discover  the  Missis- 
sippi was  from  the  province  by  land.  This  he  was  willing 
to  undertake  if  his  Majesty  would  pay  the  charge  of  the 
expedition,  £400  or  £500.  He  proposed  to  employ  50 
white  men  and  100  Indians,  and  had  no  doubt  but  that  in 
five  or  six  months  after  his  Majesty's  commands  he  would 
find  its  mouth  and  latitude.* 

The  real  object  of  this  expedition  Moore  proposed  was 
not,  however,  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  but  the 
exploring  of  gold  and  silver  mines.  In  1691  he  had  made 
a  journey  into  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  in  which  jour- 
ney he  had  found  several  pieces  of  ore  which  he  had  sent 
to  England  to  be  assayed,  and  some  of  which  had  been 

1  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.  (MSS.),  vol.  I,  159. 

2  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  97. 

3  Ihid.,  108;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  217. 
*  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  445, 


348  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

reported  to  be  very  valuable,  and  he  now  wished  to  make 
further  exploration  at  his  Majesty's  expense.  In  the 
meanwhile,  one  Thomas  Cutler  had  come  out  with  a  com- 
mission from  the  Lords  of  Trade  to  search  for  mines,  but 
he  was  wholly  inexperienced  in  the  matter,  and  relied  en- 
tirely upon  the  stories  which  two  brothers-in-law  of  his  in 
Carolina,  Edward  Loughton  and  David  MaybanckpTiad 
gathered  from  the  Indians.  Moore  soon  persuaded  Cutler 
that  he  alone  possessed  the  necessary  information  and 
skill  to  find  and  develop  the  mines,  and  induced  him  to 
return  to  London  to  represent  to  the  Board  of  Trade  that 
he,  Moore,  was  a  person  of  known  experience,  judgment, 
and  great  power  among  the  Indians,  and  had  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  mines  than  those  they  had  first  relied 
upon.  The  Board  of  Trade,  however,  very  curtly  informed 
Mr.  Cutler  and  his  friend,  Mr.  Smith,  who  accompanied 
him,  "  that  their  Lordships  do  not  concern  themselves  nor 
meddle  in  what  Captain  Moore  desires  of  them  &  what" 
they  the  said  Smith  and  Cutler  think  fit  to  do  upon  his 
request."  ^     We  hear  no  more  of  the  mines  in  Carolina. 

Both  cotton  and  rice  had  been  exported  from  Carolina 
before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  watt  and 
Ramsay  credit  Landgrave  Smith  with  the  introduction  of 
rice  culture.  The  former  gives  an  interesting  story  of  a 
bag  of  seed  rice,  obtained  by  him  from  a  brigantine  from 
the  Island  of  Madagascar,  touching  here  on  the  way  to 
Great  Britain  in  1693,  and  his  distribution  of  it  between 
Stephen  Bull,  Joseph  Woodward,  and  some  other  friends, 
who  agreed  to  make  the  experiment,  and  planted  their 
several  parcels  in  different  soils.^  But  Rivers  very  prop- 
erly declines  to  adopt  this  account,  and  points  to  an  act  of 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  Appendix,  447,  453. 

2  He  watt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  118 ;  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.t 
vol.  II,  200. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  349 

Assembly  in  1691  conferring  a  reward  upon  Peter  Jacob 
Guerard,  inventor  of  a  "  Pendulum  engine  "  for  husking 
rice,  which  it  was  said  was  superior  to  any.  machine  pre- 
viously used  in  the  colony .^  Rice  was,  with  indigo,  one 
of  the  plants  to  be  tried  by  West  on  the  experimental 
farm  under  instructions  of  July,  1669. 

In  a  bill  of  lading,  1671,  from  London,  per  ship  William 
and  Ralph  bound  for  Charles  Town,  Ashley  River,  there 
was,  among  other  articles  in  the  cargo,  "  a  barrel  of  Rice." 
Mayor  Courtenay,  in  his  address  upon  the  centennial  of 
the  incorporation  of  Charleston,  quotes  from  a  curious 
pamphlet  by  a  gentleman  in  1731,  long  resident  in  Caro- 
lina, "Dr.  Woodward's"  name,  mentioned  as  receiving  a 
parcel  of  seed  rice  from  "Madagascar."  Dr.  Woodward 
appears,  however,  to  have  been  ignorant  for  some  years 
how  to  clean  it  for  use.  He  quotes  also  from  this  pam- 
phlet that  it  was  likewise  "  reported  that  Du  Bois,  Treas- 
urer of  the  East  India  Company,  did  send  to  Charles  Town 
at  an  early  date  a  small  bag  of  seed  rice,  some  sliort  time 
after  Dr.  Woodward's  planting  of  Rice,  from  whence  it  is 
reasonable  enough  to  suppose  might  come  those  two  sorts 
called  Red  Rice  — from  the  redness  of  the  inner  husk  —  and 
white  Rice,  though  they  both  clean  and  become  white 
alike."  ^  From  these  accounts  it  is  quite  certain  that  rice 
was  received  from  Madagascar  and  experimented  upon  by 
Smith,  Bull,  Woodward,  and  othere,  but  had  been  intro- 
duced and  planted  before.  However  introduced,  rice  soon 
became  the  staple  commodity  of  the  province,  and  the 
advantageous  employment  of  Africans  in  its  cultivation 
greatly  increased  the  demand  for  negro  slaves.  The  wet, 
deep,  miry  soil  of  the  cypress  swamp,  in  which  rice  was 
found  to  grow  so  luxuriantly,  especially  when  turned  in 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  172;  Statutes,  vol.  II,  63. 

2  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1883,  395. 


350  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

cultivation^  proved  to  be  fatal  to  the  white  man,  but  con- 
genial to  the  negro  from  Africa. 

Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  the  Huguenots  to  estab- 
lish the  manufacture  of  silk,  the  attempt  was  made  by  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson  upon  a  plantation  settled  by  him  in 
what  was  afterwards  St.  Thomas'  Parish,  called  Silk  Hope, 
and  in  1699  he  was  able  to  present  to  the  Proprietors  a 
sample  of  silk  made  by  him.^  When  Oldmixon  wrote 
(1707),  Sir  Nathaniel  was  making  from  <£300  to  X400 
yearly  from  silk  alone.  Others,  encouraged  by  him,  also 
experimented,  and  some  families  were  then  making  from 
X40  to  £50  a  year  without  neglecting  their  other  planta- 
tion work.  Little  negro  children  were  employed  in  feed- 
ing the  silkworms.  Silk  and  wool  were  manufactured 
into  druggets.2  As  mulberry  trees  grow  spontaneously 
in  Carolina,  and  native  silkworms  producing  well-formed 
cocoons  are  often  found  in  the  woods,  it  appears  that  this 
country  was  well  adapted  to  the  development  of  the  indus- 
try ;  but  though  again  tried  by  the  Swiss  near  Purysburg 
in  1731,  and  again  by  the  French  colony  at  New  Bor- 
deaux, Abbeville,  in  1764,  its  manufacture  has  never  been 
persevered  in,  probably,  says  Dr.  Ramsay,  because  there 
were  easier  modes  of  making  money .^ 

The  produce  of  the  Indian  trade,  rice,  and  tlie  silk  that 
was  made,  were  sent  to  England ;  beef,  pork,  corn,  peas, 
butter,  tallow,  hides,  tanned  leather,  hogshead  and  barrel 
staves  and  hoops  to  the  West  Indies.  Though  there  were 
no  cattle  in  the  province  upon  the  first  coming  of  the 
colony,  they  had  increased  to  such  an  extent  in  thirty 
years  that  not  only  did  beef  and  pork  constitute  two  of 
the  principal  commodities  of  export,  but  wild  cattle  became 

1  Coll  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  149. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am. ,  vol.  I,  617. 

8  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  220. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  351 

almost  as  great  a  nuisance  in  Carolina  as  the  rabbit  in 
later  years  in  Australia.  In  1695,  as  we  have  seen,  an 
act  had  been  passed  for  destroying  unmarked  cattle  in  con- 
sequence of  the  inability  of  penning  and  marking  them 
at  that  time,  by  reason  of  a  hurricane  which  had  rendered 
the  woods  difficult  of  travel.  Eight  years  afterwards  an- 
other act  upon  the  subject  was  deemed  necessary.  This 
act,  which  recited  that  the  great  numbers  of  wild,  unmarked, 
and  outlying  cattle  had  drawn  the  tame  cattle  from  their 
ranges,  and  also  ate  up  the  winter  food,  curiously  assum- 
ing that  every  master  or  mistress  of  a  plantation  owned 
"such  cattle,"  required  every  owner  of  a  plantation 
who  would  not  swear  that,  to  the  best  of  his  know- 
ledge, he  did  not  own  100  head  to  any  one  or  more  of 
his  stock  houses  or  cow  pens  to  send  one  man  for  every 
100  head  to  commissioners  appointed  under  the  act  to 
hunt  for,  kill,  and  take  wild  and  unmarked  cattle.  The 
men  so  sent  were  to  be  mounted,  and  to  hunt  under  the 
direction  of  the  commissioners.  The  owners  of  any  marked 
cattle  taken  up  in  this  way  were  allowed  to  claim  and 
prove  their  property  under  provision  of  the  act.^  This 
prolific  produce  of  cattle  in  the  swamps  of  the  low  country' 
was  the  origin  of  the  stock  law  of  South  Carolina  which 
so  long  impeded  the  full  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  requir- 
ing planters  to  maintain  fences  to  keep  out  cattle  from 
their  plantations  and  farms,  rather  than  the  owners  of 
cattle  to  provide  enclosures  for  keeping  them  in  ;  a  policy 
which  existed  and  extended  all  over  the  State  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years,  being  only  abandoned  in  the  year  1882.2 
Oldmixon  states  that  some  persons  had  1000  head  of  black 
cattle  each.  For  one  man  to  have  200  was  very  common. 
Hogs  were  in  great  abundance,  roving  for  miles,  feeding 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.j  vol.  II,  220. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  XVII,  591. 


352  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

on  nuts  and  loots.^  Lawson  says  that  the  stocks  of  cattle 
were  incredible,  being  from  1000  to  2000  head  in  one  man's 
possession.'^ 

The  black  cattle  did  not,  however,  have  the  swamps  to 
themselves  ;  these  regions  were  still  alive-  with  beasts  of 
prey,  from  which  the  planters  suffered  much,  and  so  re- 
wards were  offered  in  1703  for  their  destruction;  a  white 
man  was  offered  10s.  for  every  wolf,  tiger  (panther),  or 
bear  killed  by  himself  or  his  slave  and  ds.  for  every  wild 
cat ;  an  Indian  was  offered  Bs.  for  every  wolf  or  tiger  and 
2s.  6d.  for  every  wild  cat.^ 

The  first  attempt  to  establish  a  postoffice  in  the  colony 
was  made  in  1698.  In  an  act  for  raising  a  public  store  of 
powder,  provision  was  made  requiring  every  master  of  a 
ship  arriving  in  the  province  to  deliver  all  the  letters  in 
his  custody,  with  an  exact  list  of  them,  to  Mr.  Francis 
Fidling  and  to  no  other,  and  this  list  Mr.  Fidling  was 
required  to  fix  up  in  some  public  place  in  his  house,  to 
be  viewed  by  persons  who  desired  to  do  so.  He  was  to 
deliver  the  letters  to  whom  they  were  addressed  and  to 
mark  the  delivery  on  the  list.  He  was  to  receive  for  each 
letter  or  packet  one-half  royal  postage.*  In  1702  another 
act  upon  the  subject  was  passed,  entitled  '•'■An  act  to  erect  a 
G-eneral  Postoffice  ";  but  it  did  little  more  than  appoint 
Mr.  Edward  Bourne  postmaster  in  place  of  Mr.  Fidling.^ 

In  the  same  year  that  a  postoffice  was  established  in  the 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.^  vol.  I,  520,  521. 

2  A  New  Voyage  to  Carolina,  4. 

3  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  215. 

4  Ibid.,  153,  Section  X,  of  an  act  entitled  "^n  act  for  the  raising  of  a 
public  store  of  Powder  for  the  defence  of  the  province.''"' 

^  Ibid.,  189.  In  1692  a  Royal  patent  was  granted  to  Thomas  Neale  to 
establish  postoffices  in  America,  which  was  recognized  by  an  act  of  Assem- 
bly in  Virginia.  Bruce's  Economic  Hist,  of  Va.,  vol,  II,  240.  We  find 
no  mention  of  it  in  Carolina. 


UNDER   THE  PKOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  353 

colony,  i.e.  in  1698/  a  public  library  was  formed  by  the 
eiforts  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Bray,  the  Bishop  of  London's 
commissary  in  Maryland,  with  the  aid  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors  and  contributions  of  the  Carolinians,  and  was 
placed  under  the  charge  of  the  minister  of  the  Church  of 
England.  This,  it  is  believed,  was  the  first  public  library 
in  America.  In  the  year  1700  an  act  was  passed  "/or  se- 
curing the  Provincial  Library  at  Charles  Town^''  by  which 
commissioners  and  trustees  were  appointed  for  its  preser- 
vation.2  Qn  the  16th  of  January,  1703,  Nicholas  Trott 
informs  the  House  of  Commons  that  Dr.  Bray  had  sent 
sundry  books  as  a  further  addition  to  the  public  library, 
together  with  additional  books  for  a  layman's  library, 
upon  which  he  was  instructed  to  write  to  Dr.  Bray 
returning  thanks  for  them.^  In  May  following  the  Re- 
ceiver was  instructed  to  pay  Edward  Moseley  X5  \bs.  for 
transcribing  the  catalogue  of  the  library  books.*  In  the 
church  acts  of  1704  and  of  1706  a  room  was  reserved 
in  the  rectory  of  the  minister  of  Charlestown  for  this 
library  ;^  and  in  that  of  1712,  also  reserving  the  room  in 
the  parsonage,  other  commissioners  were  named  in  the 
place  of  five  who  had  died,  and  provision  was  supplied 
for  supplying  vacancies  thereafter.  The  provision  of  this 
latter  act  we  shall  give  more  fully  hereafter.  By  the  first 
act  all  inhabitants,  without  any  exception,  were  at  liberty  to 
borrow  any  book  out  of  the  library,  giving  a  receipt  for  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  231  ;  MSS.  Journals  House  of 
Commons^  1698. 

2  These  commissioners  were  James  Moore  (then  Governor),  Joseph 
Morton,  Nicholas  Trott,  Ralph  Izard,  Esq.,  Captain  Job  Howes, 
Captain  Thomas  Smith,  Mr.  Robert  Stevens,  Mr.  Joseph  Crosskeys,  and 
Mr.  Robert  Fenwick.     Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  374. 

3  MSS.  Journals,  1703. 
*  Ibid. 

5  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  237,  286. 
2a 


354  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

same ;  but,  as  we  shall  see,  the  act  of  1712  put  it  in  the 
power  of  the  librarian  to  refuse  to  lend  books  in  certain 
cases.  There  were  also  parochial  libraries  established  by 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  after- 
w^ards  by  Sir  Francis  Nicholson  and  other  charitable 
persons.  These  the  commissioners  were  also  instructed  to 
examine  by  the  catalogue.  The  parochial  libraries  were 
probably  only  of  religious  works;  but  the  public  library 
in  Charlestown  was  a  library  for  laymen  as  well.^ 

As  before  suggested,  the  Barbadian  element  in  the 
colony  naturally  exerted  the  greatest  influence  upon  the 
development  of  its  society.  The  charter  required  that 
the  laws  should  be  as  near  as  may  be  to  the  laws  of 
England;  but  these  were  also  to  be  suitable  to  the  novel 
conditions  of  the  new  province.  In  the  other" colonies  of 
America  society  was  built  up  from  its  very  foundations 
upon  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  each.  Its  structure 
in  each  instance  was  entirely  new.  But  many  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Carolina  coming  from  Barbadoes,  where 
a  colonial  society  was  already  fully  developed,  as  before  ob- 
served, brought  with  them  customs  and  precedents  upon 
which  that  of  South  Carolina  was  formed. 

In  1674  upon  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  which  was  not 
much  larger  than  the  Isle  of  Wight,  there  were  50,000 
whites  and  80,000  negroes, — 130,000  souls  in  all.  In  fifty 
years,  since  the  foundation  of  the  English  colony  there, 
a  social  order  had  been  established  and  developed  upon 
the  basis  of  African  slavery.  As  it  was  this  which  the 
Barbadians  brought  with  them  to  Carolina,  some  account 
of  its  condition  at  this  time  will  not  here  be  out  of  place. 

Oldmixon  tells  us  that   the  inhabitants  of    Barbadoes 

^  Statutes  of  So.  Ca,  vol.  II,  374.  The  new  commissioners  under  this 
act  were  Hon.  Charles  Braun,  Governor  Arthur  Middleton,  Charles  Hart, 
Colonel  George  Logan,  and  Colonel  Hugh  Grange. 


tTKDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  355       ' 

were  ranked  in  three  orders :  Masters,  —  who  were  either 
English,  Scots,  or  Irish,  with  some  few  Dutch,  French, 
and  Portuguese  Jews,  —  white  servants,  and  slaves.  The 
white  servants  were  either  by  covenant  or  purchase;  there 
were  two  sorts,  —  such  as  sold  themselves  in  England, 
Scotland,  or  Ireland  for  four  years  or  more,  and  such  as 
were  transported  by  the  government  of  England  for  capi- 
tal crimes.  The  gentlemen  of  Barbadoes  scorned,  he  says, 
to  employ  any  of  the  latter  sort  until  the  late  sickness  — 
a  pestilential  distemper  in  1692,  supposed  to  have  been 
introduced  by  soldiers  returning  from  an  expedition  to 
the  Leeward  Islands,  which  swept  away  many  of  the 
people,  including  numbers  of  negroes  —  had  reduced  them 
to  great  want  of  hands.  Of  the  other  white  servants, 
poor  men's  children  whether  driven  thither  by  necessity 
or  discontent,  many,  behaving  themselves  honestly  and  / 
laboriously,  had  raised  themselves,  after  their  servitudes  f 
were  over,  to  be  masters  of  plantations. 

The  masters,  merchants,  and  planters  lived  like  little 
sovereigns  on  their  plantations :  they  had  their  servants 
of  the  household  and  those  of  the  field;*  their  tables  were 
spread  every  day  with  variety  of  nice  dishes,  and  their 
attendants  were  more  numerous  than  many  of  the  nobility 
in  England;  their  equipages  were  rich  ;  their  liveries  fine, 
their  coaches  and  horses  the  same  ;  their  chairs,  chaises, 
and  all  the  conveniences  of  their  travelling  magnificent. 
The  most  wealthy  of  them,  besides  their  land  equipages, 
had  their  pleasure  boats  to  make  the  tour  of  the  island  in 
and  sloops  to  convey  their  goods  to  and  from  the  Bridge 
(Bridge  Town). 

Their  dress  and  that  of  their  ladies  was  fashionable  and 
courtly,  and  having  been  generally  bred  in  London,  their 
behavior  was  genteel  and  polite ;  in  which,  says  the 
author,  they  had  the  advantage  of  most  of   the  country 


^b6  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

gentlemen  of  England,  who,  living  at  a  distance  from 
London,  frequent  the  world  very  little,  and  from  convers- 
ing always  with  their  dogs,  horses,  and  rude  peasants 
acquire  an  air  suitable  to  their  society.  The  gentlemen 
of  Barbadoes  were  civil,  generous,  hospitable,  and  very 
sociable. 

"  In  short,"  says  Oldmixon,  "  the  inhabitants  of  Barba- 
does live  as  plentifully  and  some  of  them  as  luxuriously  as 
any  in  the  world.  They  have  everything  that  is  requisite 
for  pomp  and  luxury ;  they  are  absolute  lords  of  all  things 
—  life  and  limb  of  their  servants  excepted  —  within  their 
own  territory,  and  some  of  them  have  no  less  than  700  or 
800  negroes,  who  are  themselves  and  their  posterity  their 
slaves  forever."  1 

James  Anthony  Froude,  in  his  work  on  "  The  English 
in  the  West  Indies,"  gives  a  similar  description  of  the 
society  of  Barbadoes,  taken  from  an  account  of  Pere  Labat, 
a  French  missionary  who  visited  the  island  about  the  time 
of  which  we  write.  The  contemporaneous  descriptions  of 
Labat  of  Barbadoes  and  Lawson  of  Carolina  correspond  in 
a  remarkable  manner.  Lawson  found  no  such  brilliant 
jewellers  and  silversmith  shops  in  Charles  Town  as  Labat 
did  in  Bridge  Town,  for  Barbadoes  was  much  older  and 
as  yet  much  richer,  but  the  society  they  describe  is  the 
same.  The  merchants  of  Carolina,  says  Lawson,  are  fair 
and  frank  traders.  The  gentlemen  seated  in  the  country 
are  very  courteous,  live  very  nobly  in  their  houses,  and 
give  very  genteel  entertainments  to  all  strangers  and 
others  that  come  to  visit  them.  Both  seem  equally  struck 
with  the  well-disciplined  militia,  especially  their  horse. 
In  Bridge  Town  a  review  was  held  for  Labat,  in  which 
500  gentlemen  turned  out,  admirably  mounted  and  armed. 

Lawson  says  that  the  horsemen  in  Carolina  are  mostly 
1  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  II,  128. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  357 

gentlemen  and  well  mounted  and  the  best  in  America. 
Their  officers,  both  infantry  and  cavalry,  generally  appear 
in  scarlet  mountings  as  rich  as  in  most  regiments  belong- 
ing to  the  Crown,  which,  he  observes,  shows  the  richness, 
and  grandeur  of  the  colony.^ 
(  The  Barbadian  settlers  thus  brought  with  them  a  colo- 
nial society  already  to  a  considerable  degree  formed,  and 
with  their  slaves  they  brought  the  slave  code  as  it  existed 
in  Barbadoes.  Under  this  code  the  condition  of  tlie  black 
slave  was  only  worse  than  that  of  the  white  servants  be- 
cause their  servitude  was  perpetual.  Indeed,  the  negro 
slave  had  the  great  security  that  if  he  died  his  owner  lost 
his  pecuniary  value ;  whereas  by  the  death  of  a  white 
indented  servant  the  loss  was  only  that  of  two  or  three 
years'  wages.  The  master  was  accordingly  rendered  more 
careful  of  his  slaves  than  of  hired  servants. 

The  Proprietors,  as  we  have  seen,  had  offered  induce- 
ments to  those  who  would  bring  out  white  servants,  and 
others  had  been  sent  by  the  government,  condemned  to 
servitude  as  punishment  for  crimes  or  political  offences. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  large  numbei-s  of  negro  slaves 
imported  into  the  colony,  not  many  white  servants  were  / 
induced  to  come  of  their  own  accord,  and  fortunately 
fewer  criminals  were  sent  to  South  Carolina  than  to  other 
colonies. 

At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Carolina  negro  slavery 
was  a  recognized  institution  in  all  the  European  colonies ; 
it  was  assumed  that  it  would  exist  also  in  Carolina.  Four 
of  the  Proprietors  of  Carolina,  —  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
Earl  Craven,  Sir  George  Carteret,  and  Sir  Peter  Col- 
leton, —  Ralph  Marshall  and  John  Portman,  who  came  out 
with  Sayle,  were  members  of  the  Royal  African  Company 

1  The  English  in  the  West  Indies  (Froude),  27;  A  New  Voyage  to 
Carolina  (Lawson),  3. 


358  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

with  James,  then  Duke  of  York,  which  was  chartered  and 
given  the  sole  trade  in  slaves  on  the  African  coast.^  We 
find  it  provided  by  the  philosopher  Locke  in  his  Constitu- 
tions that  "  every  freeman  of  Carolina  shall  have  absolute 
power  and  authority  over  his  negro  slaves  of  what  opinion 
or  religion  soever."  The  significance  of  this  provision 
was  not  in  recognition  of  slavery  as  an  institution  of  the 
province  —  that  was  assumed;  nor  yet  in  the  absolute 
power  it  proposed  to  give  to  the  freeman  over  his  slave, 
great  as  that  was,  but  in  the  last  words,  wherein  it  was  in-  j 
tended  to  provide  against  the  effect  of  the  possible  conver- 
sion and  baptism  of  the  negroes.  A  doubt  had  arisen  and 
prevailed  extensively  upon  this  point.  The  idea  was  that 
as  the  enslavement  of  negroes  was  chiefly  justified  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  heathen,  upon  their  becoming 
Christians  they  would  be  released  from  bondage.  It  is 
curious  to  observe  the  effect  of  this  scruple,  which  appears 
to  have  been  honestly  entertained.  Some  Christian  mas- 
ters, rather  than  offend  their  consciences  by  holding  fellow- 
Christians  in  slavery,  withheld  the  Gospel  from  these 
people  lest  they  might  hear  and  believe  and  be  converted, 
and  become  as  one  of  themselves.  We  shall  see  hereafter 
how  Church  and  State  agreed  in  dispelling  this  idea.^ 

The  first  statutory  provision  relating  to  slaves  in  Caro- 
lina was  an  act  in  1686  prohibiting  trading  with  them, 
either  white  or  black,  servants  or  slaves.  The  facility 
with  which  goods  and  provisions  could  be  stolen  by  ser- 
vants and  slaves  having  access  at  all  times  to  their  mas- 
ters' stores  was  the  cause  of  this  provision.  No  one  was 
allowed  to  buy  or  sell,  bargain  or  contract,  with  any  of 

^   1  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sainsbury),  1669-74,  934. 

2  See   article   entitled  "Slavery  in   the  Province  of  South  Carolina, 
1670-1770,"  by  Edward  McCrady.     Annual  Beport  of  the  American  Hist,  V\ 
Asso.,  1895,  631-673.  -^-^ 


UNDER   THE   PKOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  359 

them  without  their  masters'  privity  and  consent.^  The 
next,  an  act  of  1687,  related  to  white  servants  coming 
from  Europe  or  other  parts  of  America.  To  prevent 
frauds  between  masters  and  servants  arriving  in  the  prov- 
ince without  indentures  or  contracts,  it  provided  that 
those  coming  from  Europe  under  the  age  of  ten  years 
should  serve  until  they  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years ;  under  the  age  of  fifteen  years  and  above  ten  should 
serve  seven  years ;  above  the  age  of  fifteen  years  should 
serve  five  years.  A  less  time  of  service  was  prescribed 
for  those  coming  from  Barbadoes  or  other  parts  of  Amer- 
ica.2  In  1691  these  acts  were  revised.  Servants  absent- 
ing themselves  were  required  to  serve  additional  time 
for  every  day  of  absence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  if  any  master,  under  the  pretext  of  collection, 
unreasonably  whipped  or  abused  a  servant,  the  Grand 
Council  might  set  such  servant  free  or  make  such  order 
as  they  should  deem  just ;  so,  too,  the  master  was  required 
to  provide  good  and  wholesome  food  for  his  servants  under 
penalty.^ 

In  the  year  1688  two  important  enactments  had  been 
made  in  Barbadoes  in  regard  to  negro  slaves.  The  first 
was  an  act  of  April  29,  declaring  negro  slaves  real  estate 
and  not  chattels,  —  and  providing  that  they  should  de- 
scend to  the  heir  and  widow  of  an  intestate  according 
to  the  manner  and  custom  of  lands  of  inheritance  held 
in  fee-simple.*  The  second  was  a  revision  of  the  slave 
code  of  the  island  of  August  8th.^  These  acts  formed 
the  basis  of  the  first  code  upon  the  subject  in  South  Caro- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  22. 
^  Ibid.,  BO.  ^  Ibid.,  52. 

*  The  Laics  of  Barbadoes,  London,  1694  (Act  No.  42),  Library  Hist. 
Soc,  Penn. 

5  Ibid.,  No.  82. 


360  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Una.  In  1690,  in  Sothell's  administration,  an  act  was 
passed,  the  draft  of  which  was  evidently  made  upon  these 
Barbadian  enactments.  Indeed,  the  South  Carolina  statutes 
follow  and  adopt  not  only  the  main  feature  of  these  laws, 
but  the  phraseology  as  well.^ 

The  provision  in  regard  to  the  devolution  of  negro  prop- 
erty, i.e.  that  in  cases  of  intestacies  it  should  descend  as 
real  estate,  and  not  as  personal  property,  was  adopted  in  a 
modified  form.  After  providing  that  all  slaves  should 
have  convenient  clothes,  and  that  no  slave  should  be  freed 
by  becoming  a  Christian,  the  statute  went  on  to  enact 
that  slaves  should  not  be  resorted  to  in  the  first  instance 
for  the  payment  of  debt,  but  only  when  other  goods  and 
chattels  of  the  debtor  were  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
demand  of  the  creditor;  that  then  only  so  many  as  were 
necessary  for  the  purpose  should  be  sold ;  and  that  in  the 
settlement  of  estates  negroes  and  slaves  should  be  ac- 
counted for  as  freehold.  Negroes  were  nevertheless  always 
returned  as  personal  property  in  the  inventories  of  intes- 
tates' estates,  as  the  records  of  the  Ordinary's  office  in 
Charleston  abundantly  show.  This  condition  continued 
until  1740,  when  it  was  declared  that  negroes  and  Indian 
slaves  should  be  reputed  and  adjudged  in  law  to  be  chat- 
tels personal.2 

The  principal  other  provisions  of  this  code  were  the 
restriction  of  the  slave  to  the  limits  of  his  master's  planta- 
tion or  premises  except  when  accompanying  the  master,  or 
with  his  ticket  of  leave  in  writing  upon  each  occasion  of 
his  going  abroad ;   the  severe  punishment  of  slaves  for  the 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  VII,  343,  344. 

^  Ibid.,  347. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  revised  code  of  1705  of  Virginia,  the  slave 
was  also  declared  to  be  real  estate  unless  held  by  a  merchant  who  was 
seeking  to  sell  him,  in  which  case  he  was  decided  to  be  personalty. 
Brace's  Economic  Hist,  of  Va.,  vol.  II,  98. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  361 

striking  of  a  white  man,  extending  to  branding,  burning 
mutilation,  and  even  death  upon  repeated  offences ;  the 
arrest  and  commitment  of  runaways;  the  constant  search 
of  the  houses  of  slaves  for  arms,  which  they  were  not  al- 
lowed to  have,  and  for  stolen  goods ;  the  mode  of  trial  of 
slaves  for  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  i.e.  by  a  court  of  two 
justices  and  three  freeholders  instead  of  by  jury,  and  the 
punishments  prescribed,  which  were  not,  in  general,  greater 
than  those  inflicted  upon  white  men  for  similar  offences. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  code  was  the  inadequate 
protection  afforded  by  the  terms  of  the  statute  to  the  life 
and  limb  of  the  slave.  The  provision  in  regard  to  this, 
was  that  if  any  slave,  by  punishment  from  the  owner  for 
running  away  or  other  offence,  should  suffer  in  life  and 
limb,  no  person  should  be  liable  to  the  law  for  the  same ; 
but  if  any  one  out  of  wilfulness,  wantonness,  or  bloody- 
mindedness  should  kill  a  slave,  upon  conviction  he  should 
suffer  three  months'  imprisonment  and  pay  the  sum  of 
£50  to  the  owner;  a  servant  killing  a  slave  was  to  be 
whipped  nine  and  thirty  lashes,  and  to  serve  the  master 
of  the  slave  four  years ,  a  pei-son  was  not  to  be  punished 
for  killing  a  slave  stealing  in  his  house,  if  the  slave 
refused  to  submit.^  These  provisions  practically  placed 
the  life  or  death  of  the  slave  in  the  hands  of  the  master. 
But  this  terrible  power  was  in  a  great  measure  neutralized 
and  controlled  by  the  master's  interest.  To  kill  or  injure 
his  slave,  whether  for  doing  so  the  master  was  punished 
or  exculpated  by  the  law,  was  to  impose  upon  himself  a 
pecuniary  fine  to  the  extent  of  the  slave's  value.  The  effec- 
tive motive  of  interest  came  into  the  protection  of  the 
negro's  life.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  Barbadoes 
under  this  law,  while  the  blacks  four  times  outnum- 
bered the  whites,  homicide  among  the  whites,  though 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  VII,  343-347. 


362  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

of  rare  occurrence  and  punished  in  the  same  exemplary 
manner  as  at  the  Old  Bailey,  was  of  more  frequent  occur- 
rence than  the  murder  of  a  slave  by  a  freeman.^ 

Such  were  the  main  features  of  the  slave  code  brought 
over  by  the  Barbadians  and  adopted  by  the  Carolinians. 
However  harsh  they  may  appear  to  the  reader  of  the 
present  day,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  penal  codes 
under  which  white  men  then  lived  in  England  and  else- 
where were  scarcely  less  so.^  Granting  the  subordina- 
tion of  slavery,  the  prohibition  of  slaves'  going  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  masters'  plantations  was  no  more  than 
that  applied  to  soldiers  and  sailors,  whose  liberties  do  not 
extend  beyond  the  camp,  barrack,  or  ship.  So,  too,  in 
regard  to  the  provision  as  to  a  slave  striking  a  white  man. 
"Is  the  soldier  who  fights  the  battle  of  his  country  and 
lifts  his  hand  against  his  commanding  officer,"  asks  the 
historian  of  Barbadoes,  "  more  criminal  or  punished  with 
less  severity  than  the  audacious  slave  who  strikes  his 
master?  Is  the  gallant  sailor  who  upholds  the  nation's 
glory  and  protects  it  by  his  valor  and  prowess  subject  to 
a  milder  punishment,  if  in  a  moment  of  unguarded  resent- 
ment he  should  strike  the  officer  whose  orders  he  is 
bound  to  obey?  No;  an  ignominious  death  awaits  the 
rash  offender ;  his  former  services  are  forgotten  and  he  is 
consigned  to  a  premature  grave  for  his  temerity,  while  the 
slave  lives  to  repeat  his  crime  and  exult  in  his  audacity."^ 

The  scheme  of  the  Court  of  Justices  and  Freeholders 
was  taken  also  from  the  Barbadian  act.  And  in  regard 
to  that  statute  it  was  observed  that  the  form  of  trial  it 
provided  was  in  all  respects  competent  to  the  administra- 
tion of  justice,  "and  candid  men,"  continues  the  author 

1  Hist,  of  Barbadoes  (Poyer),  134,  135. 

2  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  TV  (Sliarswood  ed.),  377. 
8  The  History  of  Barbadoes  (Poyer),  138. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY    GOVERNMENT  363 

just  quoted,  "  may  probably  think  that  a  tribunal  consist- 
ing of  two  magistrates  and  three  jurymen  may  be  as 
capable  of  deciding  justly  as  the  military  and  naval 
courts  martial  which  are  allowed  to  decide  upon  the  lives 
of  freemen."  ^  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  in 
passing  that  in  the  whole  system  of  government  brought 
over  from  Barbadoes,  with  its  interwoven  military  organi- 
zation and  slavery,  there  is  a  strong  flavor  and  element  of 
martial  law  —  thus  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  court 
was  not  styled  High  Sheriff  as  Locke's  Constitutions  pro- 
posed, but  Provost  Marshal. 

1  The  History  of  Barbadoes  (Poyer),  140. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

1700-1703 

During  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  province,  the  poli- 
tics of  the  colony  had  turned  upon  the  recognition  or  re- 
pudiation of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  of  Locke  ;  the 
terms  and  regulations  of  the  grants  of  land  ;  the  collection 
of  quit-rents ;  and  on  the  one  hand  the  determined  strug- 
gle of  the  people  in  Carolina  to  control  their  own  affairs, 
and  on  the  other  the  languid  efforts  of  the  distant  Pro- 
prietors, exerted  in  a  desultory  and  careless  manner,  to 
maintain  their  authority.  How  impotent  the  Proprietors 
were,  Sothell  had  shown  when  he  assumed  the  govern- 
ment without  his  co-proprietors'  consent  and  held  it  in 
defiance  of  their  wishes  until  by  his  conduct  he  had  dis- 
gusted the  people  whose  cause  he  had  assumed  to  espouse. 

The  original  colonists  had  passed  away  with  the  old 
century  and  new  men  appeared  to  control  the  political 
affairs  of  the  province. 

The  Fundamental  Constitutions  were  soon  to  be  practi- 
cally abandoned,  save  as  a  harmless  amusement  of  the  Pro- 
prietors in  bestowing  some  few  more  provincial  titles.  But 
the  colonists,  more  restless  than  ever  under  the  inefficient 
rule  of  the  Proprietors,  were  encouraged  by  the  government 
at  home  to  oppose  it.  With  new  men,  new  questions  were 
to  arise  and  new  policies  to  be  pursued;  to  end  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Proprietary  Government  and  the  surren- 
der of  the  charter.     These  questions  and  policies  were  all 

364 


tJNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  365 

involved  in  those  of  the  mother  country,  and  to  under- 
stand the  coming  events  in  Carolina,  we  must  take  a  brief 
glance  at  the  affairs  in  England  out  of  which  they  grew. 

For  Europe  in  general  the  Peace  of  Ryswick  of  1697 
was  little  more  than  a  truce, — a  truce  to  end  in  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  succession.  The  accession  of  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV,  to  the  Crown  of  Spain 
might  not,  of  itself,  have  aroused  popular  feeling  in  Eng- 
land to  such  an  extent  as  to  warrant  William  in  declar- 
ing war,  had  not  Louis  XIV  taken  the  occasion  to  expel 
the  Dutch  garrisons  from  the  fortress  of  the  Netherlands, 
which  they  had  occupied  since  that  treaty,  and  to  replace 
them  in  February,  1701,  by  French  troops.  The  people  of 
England  at  this  time  were  utterly  averse  to  war.  But 
bitter  as  the  strife  was  between  Whig  and  Tory,  there 
were  two  things  upon  which  Whig  and  Tory  were  agreed : 
neither  would  suffer  France  to  occupy  the  Spanish 
Netherlands ;  neither  would  endure  a  French  attack  on 
the  Protestant  succession  which  the  Revolution  of  1688 
had  established.  The  seizure  of  the  Dutch  barrier,  and  the 
disclosure  of  a  new  Jacobite  plot,  brought  the  Parliament 
of  1701,  a  Parliament  mainly  of  Tories,  at  once  to  William's 
support  in  his  demand  for  a  withdrawal  of  the  French. 
While  England  was  still  clinging  desperately  to  the  hope 
of  peace,  Louis,  who  had  acknowledged  William  as  King 
and  pledged  himself  to  oppose  all  attacks  on  his  throne, 
in  September,  1701,  entered  the  bedchamber  at  St.  Ger- 
main's where  James  the  Second  was  breathing  his  last,  and 
promised  to  acknowledge  his  son,  at  his  death,  as  King  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  This  act  of  the  French 
King  put  an  end  to  any  question  between  Whig  and  Tory. 
Every  Englishman  supported  William  in  his  open  resent- 
ment of  the  insult.  The  Grand  Alliance  was  formed 
September,  1701,  against  France  and  Spain ;  and  the  new 


S66  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLInA 

Parliament,  which  met  in  1702,  though  still  Tory,  was  now 
as  much  for  war  as  the  Whigs  —  an  army  was  immediately 
raised,  and  Marlborough  was  sent  with  it  to  Flanders. 
William  died  on  the  8th  of  March,  1702,  and  upon  the 
accession  of  Anne  war  was  at  once  begun. 

The  victory  of  Blenheim,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1704, 
aided  to  bring  about  a  great  change  in  the  political  aspect 
of  affairs.  The  Tories,  who  were  now  in  power,  were 
pressing  hard  the  defeated  Whigs;  the  Whigs,  however, 
still  controlled  the  House  of  Lords.  But  the  Tories,  if 
willing  to  support  the  war  abroad,  were  resolved  to  use 
the  accession  of  a  Stuart,  or  Queen  Anne,  to  secure  their 
own  power  at  home.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to  make  a 
fresh  attempt  to  create  a  permanent  Tory  majority  in  the 
Commons  by  excluding  nonconformists  from  the  munici- 
pal corporations  which  returned  the  bulk  of  the  borough 
members,  whose  political  tendencies  were,  for  the  most 
part.  Whig.  The  test  which  prevailed,  of  receiving  the 
sacrament  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, effective  as  it  was  against  Roman  Catholics,  was  not 
so  against  Protestant  dissenters,  who  evaded  it  by  par- 
taking of  the  communion  in  a  church  once  in  a  year,  and 
subsequently  attending  their  own  chapels ;  in  doing  which, 
they  were  protected  by  the  Toleration  Act.  This  was 
called  "  occasional  conformity " ;  and  it  was  against  this 
practice  that  the  Tories  introduced  a  test  which,  by  exclud- 
ing the  nonconformists,  would  have  given  them  the  com- 
mand of  the  boroughs.  But  it  was  rejected  by  the  Whig 
House  of  Lords  as  often  as  it  was  sent  up  to  them.^ 

These  great  affairs  in  Europe  were  all  reflected  in 
America,  and  the  course  of  events  in  Carolina  closely 
followed  those  in  England. 

Among  the  leaders  who  now  appeared  were  some  of 
1  Green's  Hist,  of  the  English  People,  vol.  IV,  70-89. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  867 

great  ability.  Moore  and  Daniel,  though  not  among  the 
first  settlers,  had  each  been  in  the  province  for  some  years 
and  had  already  taken  an  active  part  in  its  affairs.  The 
more  recent  comers  who  were  to  be  prominent  in  the 
stirring  events  to  follow  were  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson, 
Nicholas  Trott,  William  Rhett,  Edmund  Bellinger,  and 
John  Barnwell. 

With  James  Moore  we  have  already  had  some  casual 
acquaintance  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to 
Colleton,  and  whom,  with  Robert  Daniel,  the  Proprietors 
excluded  from  their  pardon,  and  more  lately  as  an  ad- 
venturous explorer  of  the  province,  who,  though  again  in 
the  Council  of  the  Proprietors,  was  ready,  according  to 
Randolph,  to  betray  their  interest.  But  Randolph,  it  must 
be  remembered,  was  reckless  in  his  charges  against  the 
best  of  the  colonists,  not  only  in  Carolina,  but  in  every 
other  province.  This  James  Moore  was  supposed  to  be 
the  son  of  Roger  Moore,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion 
in  Ireland  in  1641,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  rebellious  blood 
of  his  sire.  He  had  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Yeamans,  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family.^  He  was  one 
of  "the  Goose  Creek  men"  against  whom  Ludwell  had 
been  warned. 

Robert  Daniel  had  come  from  Barbadoes  in  1679.  He 
had  first  appeared  in  the  struggle  against  Colleton  in 
1680 ;  and  though,  with  Moore,  he  had  been  excluded 
from  the  Proprietors'  pardon,  had  so  recovered  his  posi- 
tion with  their  Lordships  that  we  find  him  in  1698  in 
London  in  conference  with  them  upon  a  new  set  of 
Constitutions  for  the  regulation  of  the  government,  and 
coming  back  bringing  not  only  these  new  Constitutions, 
but  a  patent  appointing  him  Landgrave. 

Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  was  altogether  the  person  of 
^  Wheeler's  Beminiscences  of  No.  Ca.,  49. 


368  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

highest  position  who  had  yet  come  into  the  province. 
He  was  of  Keeblesworth,  in  the  bishopric  of  Durham, 
had  been  a  distinguished  soldier  and  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment. He  was  a  faithful  follower  and  supporter  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  at  the  time  of  the  abdication  of  James  II 
was  Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  residing  at  Nevis, 
then  the  most  flourishing  of  that  group  of  islands.  Re- 
fusing to  take  the  oaths  to  William  and  Mary,  he  had 
been  removed  from  his  position,  and  had  come  to  Caro- 
lina.^ Here  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  development 
of  industries  in  the  province,  especially,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  the  making  of  silk,  and  had  also  greatly  encour- 
aged the  planters  in  the  cultivation  of  rice  and  other 
agricultural  experiments.  These  enterprises  and  his  mili- 
tary character  had  given  him  great  popularity.  For  some 
reason,  it  has  appeared,  he  was  viewed  with  jealousy  by 
the  Proprietors  upon  his  first  coming  into  the  province. 

Nicholas  Trott  ^  was  a  lawyer  of  London  of  great  learn- 
ing and  unbounded  ambition,  and  withal  of  little  prin- 
ciple. He  had  been  sent  by  the  Proprietors  of  Carolina 
to  Providence  (now  Nassau),  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands 
within  their  grant,  to  supplant  Cadwallader  Jones,  the 
Governor  there,  against  whom  there  were  charges  of  mis- 
government  and  high  treason.  Randolph  accused  Trott 
of  harboring  and  encouraging  pirates,  as  Jones,  he 
charged,  had  done  before  him.  But  this  was  Randolph's 
common  charge  against  all  the  Governors  of  the  colonies. 
Trott  was,  however,  also  complained  of  to  King  William 
because  of  his  arbitrary  conduct,  but  he  remained  Gov- 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  II,  198,  244. 

2  "The  Trotts  of  Beccles  were  worshipful  men  in  the  time  of  Charles 
the  first.  Mathew  Trott  was  register  of  the  Court  of  the  Commissary  of 
Suffolk  and  a  Nicholas  Trott  had  the  living  of  Ringsfield  in  1663."  — 
Introductory  Memoir  to  the  Diary  and  Autobiography  of  Edmund  Bohun, 
Esq.,  xxvi. 


UNDER  THE   PROPUIETARY   GOVERNMENT  369 

ernor  of  Providence  until  1697,  when  he  was  recalled,^ 
and  upon  his  return  to  England  was  appointed  Attorney 
General  of  Carolina,  to  which  place  he  came  in  1 698. 

William  Rhett  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  London 
in  1666,  and  to  have  come  to  Carolina  in  1694  with  his 
wife  and  one  child.^  He  was  a  seaman,  for  we  find  on 
record  a  power  of  attorney,  dated  September  7,  1699, 
from  John  and  Nicholas  Trott  of  London  to  Governor 
Blake  and  others  in  Carolina,  to  collect  from  Captain 
William  Rhett  "all  such  sums  of  money  goods  wares 
merchandise  negro  slaves,  gold,  elephants  teeth  wax  effects 
and  things  whatsoever"  which  the  said  Captain  William 
Rhett  had  in  his  hands  "  on  account  of  their  being  part 
owners  of  the  ship  Providence  burthen  150  tons,  whereof 
the  said  William  Rhett  is  commander."^  Rhett  was  a 
man  of  violent  temper,  but  of  great  courage  and  ability, 
and  was  to  render  the  colony  the  most  brilliant  services. 

Daniel,  Johnson,  Trott,  and  Rhett  were  all  strong  and 
high  churchmen.  Edmund  Bellinger  first  appears  as  deputy 
of  Thomas  Amy  in  1697,  then  as  Surveyor  General  and 
Landgrave  in  1698;  having  with  Robert  Daniel  been  in 
London  the  latter  year  in  consultation  with  the  Proprietors 
upon  the  last  draft  of  the  Constitutions.*  John  Barnwell 
was  a  gentleman  of  Dublin,  of  influential  connections,  who 
had  come  to  Carolina  led  by  a  spirit  of  adventure,  and 
soon  became  the  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  colony. 

Possessed  of  great  abilities  and  clothed  with  extensive 
powers,  Mr.  Trott  came  recommended  especially  to  Gov- 
ernor Blake,  and  immediately  attained  an  influential  posi- 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  476,  vol.  II,  428-430 ;  Colonial  Rec- 
ords of  No.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  466. 

2  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  507. 

8  Probate  office,  Charleston,  Book  Miscellaneous  Records.,  1694-1704, 
*  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  144,  145. 
2b 


370  aiSTORt^  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

tion.  Notwithstanding  his  official  character  as  Attorney 
General  under  the  Proprietors,  he  appears  to  have  been 
elected  to  the  Assembly  as  representing  the  "  country- 
party "  as  it  was  termed,  that  is,  the  party  of  dissenters 
who  were  principally  located  in  Colleton  County.  Here 
he  at  once  exhibited  the  antagonism  which  marked  his 
subsequent  career.  The  Governor  and  Council  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  Assembly  or  House  of  Commons  on  the 
other,  had  now  separated  and  sat  in  distinct  houses,  com- 
municating with  each  other  by  messengers  and  committees 
of  conference.  In  a  conference  of  committees  from  the 
Council  and  Assembly  February  19,  1700,  on  a  bill  regu- 
lating the  Court  of  Admiralty,  Governor  Blake,  who  pre- 
sided, was  insisting  upon  a  certain  point  when  Mr.  Trott 
interrupted  him  with  the  remark:  "With  submission  to 
your  honor,  you  are  too  fast;  we  are  not  come  to  that 
point  yet,"  and  without  disclaiming  an  intention  to  offend, 
declared  in  reply  to  such  a  charge  his  right  to  freedom  of 
speech,  since  he  recognized  Mr.  Blake,  in  this  instance, 
only  as  one  of  a  committee,  and  not  in  his  character  of  a 
Proprietor  and  Governor  of  the  province.  The  confer- 
ence was  dissolved,  and  Blake  refused  to  meet  the  com- 
mittee again  if  Trott  should  be  present.  The  matter  was 
referred  to  the  Assembly,  and  they  resolved  "  that  any 
manager  appointed  by  this  house  have  freedom  of  speech 
as  it  is  their  undoubted  right."  ^  In  this  first  con- 
troversy, however  rude  Trott  may  have  been,  and  negli- 
gent of  the  courtesy  due  the  Governor,  it  cannot  be 
questioned  that  the  Assembly  was  right  in  standing  up  to 
its  representative  on  a  committee  of  conference.  If  the 
Governor  had  condescended  to  act  as  one  of  such  a  com- 
mittee on  the  part  of  the  Council,  he  should  not  have 
expected  to  carry  there  the  overawing  dignity  of  his  official 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  192. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  371 

character.  He  was  there,  as  the  Assembly  correctly  held, 
merely  as  one  of  his  Council,  with  whom  their  representa- 
tive had  the  right  freely  to  discuss  the  matter  in  hand 
unembarrassed  by  the  official  character  of  the  Governor. 

Another  question  now  also  arose  between  the  Governor 
and  his  Council  on  the. one  side  and  the  Assembly  on  the 
other.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Ely,  the  Receiver  General, 
the  Governor  and  Council  claimed  the  privilege  of  nomi- 
nating his  successor  until  the  pleasure  of  the  Proprietors 
was  known.  The  Assembly,  on  the  other  hand,  insisted 
that  it  belonged  to  them.  This  occasioned  several  mes- 
sages between  the  two  houses,  and  much  altercation  en- 
sued. The  Upper  House  appointed  the  man  of  their 
choice ;  the  Lower  House  resolved  that  the  person  so 
appointed  was  no  public  receiver,  and  that  whoever  should 
presume  to  pay  money  to  him  as  such,  should  be  deemed 
ah  infringer  of  the  Assembly  and  an  enemy  of  the  coun- 
try. Trott  now  made  the  point  that  the  Governor  and 
Council  could  not  be  called  an  Upper  House,  though  they 
thus  styled  themselves,  as  they  differed  in  the  most  essen- 
tial circumstances  from  the  House  of  Lords  in  England, 
and  persuaded  the  Assembly  to  call  them  "the  Proprietors' 
deputies."  This  question,  as  to  the  character  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's Councils  in  the  enactment  of  laws,  thus  started,  con- 
tinued not  only  through  the  Proprietary,  but  through 
the  Royal  Government  as  well,  and  was  the  subject  of  a 
bitter  controversy  between  William  Henry  Drayton  and 
Sir  Egerton  Leigh,  when  the  Revolution  of  1776  put  an 
end  to  the  discussion.  But  in  the  end,  as  at  the  begin- 
ning, it  was  one  more  of  the  name  or  title  of  the  body 
than  one  of  substance.  The  Governor  and  Council,  from 
an  early  period  to  the  end  of  the  Royal  Government,  sat  as 
a  separate  body,  without  the  consent  of  which  no  law 
could  be  passed.     Trott  himself  had  first  recognized  it  as 


372  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

such  when,  as  a  member  of  a  committee  of  conference,  he 
had  met  a  like  committee  of  the  Council.  His  conduct 
to  Governor  Blake  was  justifiable,  if  at  all,  only  on  that 
very  ground — and  on  no  other. 

But  Trott  had  already  given  other  cause  of  offence. 
He  was  not  only  Attorney  General,  but  was  naval  officer 
as  well,  and  had  incurred  Governor  Blake's  displeasure 
because  of  his  alleged  partiality  as  the  prosecuting  officer 
of  the  port,  and  upon  this  charge  Blake  suspended  him 
from  exercising  the  function  of  either  office.^  Randolph, 
the  King's  Collector  of  Customs,  however,  who  had  not 
long  before  reported  the  Bahama  Islands  as  under  Trott's 
administration  a  common  retreat  for  pirates,  now  espouses 
his  cause  and  writes  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of 
Trade  charging  a  conspiracy  between  Governor  Blake, 
his  brother-in-law  Morton,  the  Judge  of  Admiralty,  and 
Logan  and  Bellinger,  in  seizing  and  condemning  vessels, 
and  buying  them  in  upon  sale  at  half  their  value ;  and 
declares  that  Nicholas  Trott  was  turned  out  of  his  place 
—  though  he  had  the  commission  of  his  Majesty's  customs 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Proprietors  —  because  he  was  dili- 
gent and  faithful  to  his  trust,  and  to  make  room  for  a 
creature  of  the  Governor.^ 

At  this  juncture  at  the  close  of  the  year  1700,^  Governor 
Blake  died,  and  Trott  had  no  difficulty  in  persuading  the 
next  Assembly  to  resolve  that  there  were  no  sufficient  rea- 
sons for  his  suspension  and  to  request  his  reinstatement, 
which  was  granted,  though  with  some  reluctance  by  his 
friend,  the  successor  of  Blake ;  this  hesitation  was  occa- 
sioned, it  was  charged,  by  Trott's  opposition  to  too  flagrant 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  192. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  215,  216 ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No. 
Ca.,  vol.  I,  645. 

8  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  144. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  373 

a  scheme  of  the  new  Governor  to  turn  to  his  private  advan- 
tage the  emoluments  of  the  Indian  trade.^ 

Upon  the  death  of  Blake,  Joseph  Morton,  as  the  eldest 
Landgrave  present,  was  entitled  to  the  administration 
under  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  and  whether  these 
Constitutions  were  or  were  not  binding,  a  majority  of  the 
Council  then  present  elected  Morton  until  the  pleasure  of 
the  Proprietors  could  be  known.  But  James  Moore,  who 
was  one  of  the  body,  objected  to  Morton's  election  upon  the 
ground  that  he  was  ineligible,  as  he  held  an  office  under  the 
King,  i.e.  Judge  of  Admiralty.  To  this  objection  it  was 
answered  by  Mr.  Morton's  friends,  "  That  it  did  not  appear 
by  the  charter,  the  Proprietaries  can  empower  any  one  to  try 
persons  for  acts  committed  out  of  their  dominions  which  is 
necessary  for  a  judge."  And  that  as  it  was  necessary  that 
some  one  in  the  colony  should  possess  the  power,  it  should 
not  disqualify  Mr.  Morton  from  being  Governor  as  well 
while  he  was  Judge.  The  objection,  however,  prevailed. 
Morton  was  set  aside,  and  Moore  was  chosen.  Morton 
complained  to  the  Proprietors,  but  their  Lordships  did  not 
interfere  in  his  behalf.^  Indeed,  they  had  themselves,  the 
year  before,  expressed  surprise  that  Morton,  holding  the 
commission  as  Judge  of  Admiralty,  should  have  taken 
another,  though  from  the  King  ;  ^  and  were  probably  not 
displeased  that  he  had  suffered  for  it  without  their  own 
action.  Morton  does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  a  favor- 
ite with  the  Proprietors.  They  had  made  him  a  Land- 
grave and  Governor  in  1682  for  bringing  out  a  number  of 
immigrants,  but  they  had  been  very  curt  to  him  in  their 
communications,  and   had   soon   sent   out   a   stranger  to 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  192. 

2  Oldmixon,  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  474;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol. 
II,  418  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  194. 

3  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  IV,  100. 


374  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

relieve  him.  He  had  before  been  chosen  by  the  Council 
in  an  emergency,  upon  the  retirement  of  Governor  West 
in  1685,  but  had  again  been  promptly  relieved  by  the 
Proprietors,  who  sent  out  Colleton  instead  in  1686.  Had 
the  Proprietors  known  that  Moore  had  been  endeavoring 
to  betray  their  interests  to  the  King  through  Randolph, 
they  may  perhaps  have  overlooked  Morton's  taking  a 
commission  from  his  Majesty,  and  have  allowed  him  to 
serve  for  a  while  as  Governor  for  a  third  time. 

Moore  is  said  at  this  time  to  have  been  in  great  debt  and 
pecuniary  want,  and  determined  if  possible  to  improve  his 
desperate  circumstances  during  his  lease  of  power,  which  he 
apprehended  would  be  of  but  short  duration.  He  designed, 
therefore,  to  make  a  considerable  profit  out  of  the  Indian 
trade  while  he  had  the  opportunity,  and  for  the  purpose 
had  a  bill  brought  into  the  Assembly  for  regulating  that 
business,  which,  had  it  passed,  would  have  given  him  a  mo- 
nopoly. But  Trott,  by  his  astuteness,  saw  at  once  through 
the  scheme  and,  for  purposes  of  his  own,  defeated  it.  Upon 
this,  Moore,  finding  the  Assembly  not  amenable  to  his 
designs,  dissolved  it. 

A  new  Assembly  was  called  and  every  exertion  was  made 
to  control  its  composition.  The  election  took  place  in 
November,  1701,  and  the  dissenters  of  Colleton  County 
charged  that  unqualified  aliens,  i.e.  French  Protestants, 
strangers,  paupers,  servants,  and  even  free  negroes,  were 
allowed  to  vote.  As  soon  as  the  Assembly  met,  peti- 
tions were  presented  by  the  defeated  candidates  praying 
to  be  heard  against  the  validity  of  the  Sheriff's  returns. 
The  Assembly,  most  of  whom  were  incorruptible,  and  ap- 
parently not  under  Moore's  control,  promptly  resolved 
to  enter  into  an  immediate  investigation.  To  prevent  this 
they  were  prorogued  from  time  to  time.  Being  sum- 
moned in  April,  1702,  the  busiest  time  with  planters,  they 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  375 

met  and  adjourned  till  the  5th  of  May.  This  Governor 
Moore  angrily  imputed  to  a  greater  regard  to  private  than 
to  the  public  welfare,  and  prorogued  them  till  August.^ 

In  the  intervals  reports  were  circulated  that  Colonel 
Daniel  had  instigated  Moore  to  proclaim  martial  law  if 
the  Assembly  should  continue  to  exliibit  a  refractory  spirit, 
and  when  the  Assembly  met  recrimination  immediately  be- 
gan. If  the  public  welfare  had  required  their  counsels, 
why  had  the  Governor  through  pique  prorogued  them  till 
August?  Was  it  that  he  designed  to  menace  them  with 
coercion  ?  "  Oh,  how  is  the  sacred  law  profaned,"  it  was 
said,  "  when  joined  with  martial !  Have  you  forgotten 
your  honor's  own  noble  endeavor  to  vindicate  our  liberties 
when  Colletoa  set  up  his  arbitrary  rule  ?  "  ^ 

Before  the  prorogation  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Trott  and 
Mr.  Higginton  had  been  appointed  a  committee  to  super- 
vise the  last  set  of  Constitutions  sent  out  by  the  Proprietors 
with  Colonel  Daniel.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1702,  these 
gentlemen  made  this  incoherent  report:^  — 

"  That  the  constitutions  of  which  we  are  to  consider  make  and  set 
up  an  estate  different  and  distinguished  from  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
and  the  Common's  House  without  whose  consent  no  law  shall  or  may 
be  enacted,  which  is  called  in  the  said  constitutions  the  upper  house, 
consisting  of  the  Landgraves  and  Casiques  who  being  created  by  their 
Lordships'  second  letters  patents  are  also  a  middle  state  between  the 
Lords  and  the  Commons ;  which  constitution  we  cannot  find  that  it 
anywayes  contradicts  the  said  Charter. 

"  We  find  that  the  22d  article  in  the  said  Constitutions  manifestly  in- 
terferes with  our  Jury  acts  now  in  force  ;  That  all  other  articles  in  the 
constitutions  are  as  neare  and  agreable  as  may  be  to  the  said  charter 
or  at  least  no  wayes  repugnant  to  it." 

In   this    inconsistent    and    contradictory   report,    Trott 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  196. 

2  Ibid. 

^  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  41  ;  MSS.  Journal. 


376  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

points  out  that  the  Constitutions  made  and  set  up  an 
estate  consisting  of  Landgraves  and  Caciques,  called  an 
Upper  House,  without  the  consent  of  the  Commons  House, 
without  which  no  law  could  be  enacted  under  the  charter ; 
and  yet  reports  that  the  committee  cannot  find  that  the 
Constitutions  anyways  contradict  that  instrument.  That 
one  of  the  articles  of  the  Constitutions  interfere  with  the 
jury  acts ;  but  all  other  articles  are  as  near  and  agreeable 
to  the  charter  as  may  be,  or  at  least  not  repugnant  to  it. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?  The  implication  is  that  if 
the  Constitutions  are  inconsistent  with  the  jury  act,  the 
Constitutions  must  give  way ;  and  yet,  though  contradict- 
ing the  charter  in  setting  up  a  third  estate  without  the 
consent  of  the  Commons,  they  are  not  repugnant  to  it. 

This  was  his  formal  report ;  but  the  dissenters  of  Colle- 
ton, in  an  address,  complained  to  the  Proprietors  that  when 
the  House  came  to  consider  the  Constitutions,  "  they  were 
opposed  by  Mr.  Trott  &  Mr.  Howes  and  others,  the  said 
Governor's  creatures  &  several  reflectory  words  used  by 
the  said  Trott  ^  Howes  concerning  them,  exposing  the 
constitutions  as  ridiculous  and  void  in  themselves  ;  thereby 
endeavoring  (notwithstanding  Your  Lordship's  care  of  us) 
to  keep  the  people  in  an  unsettled  condition,  that  from 
time  to  time  they  might  the  more  easily  be  imposed  on  hj 
them."  1 

It  is  as  difficult  to  suppress  a  smile  upon  reading  the 
address  of  the  dissenters  of  Colleton  on  the  one  hand,  as 
upon  reading  the  sophistical  report  of  Trott  on  the  other. 
Trott's  insincerity  was  equalled  by  that  of  the  address. 
Could  the  Proprietors  really  believe  that  the  dissenters 
were  now  in  earnest  in  desiring  the  imposition  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  which  they  had  so  persistently 

1  "Address  of  Members  of  Colleton  Co.,"  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  Appendix,  467. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  377 

resisted,  and  which  Constitutions,  while  professing  religious 
freedom,  prescribed  that  the  General  Assembly  should 
take  care  of  the  building  of  churches  and  the  public 
maintenance  of  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  "  which 
being  the  only  true  and  orthodox,  and  the  national  religion 
of  all  the  King's  dominion,  is  also  of  Carolina,"  etc. 

The  proceedings  of  the  House  upon  the  reports  are 
scarcely  less  contradictory  than  the  report  itself.  The 
day  after  it  had  been  presented,  the  House  entered  into  a 
debate  upon  it,  and  ordered  the  Constitutions  themselves 
to  be  read.  Then  the  question  was  raised  as  to  the  effect 
of  the  deaths  of  the  Proprietors  who  had  signed  them. 
"The  question  is  put  whether  the  house  is  of  opinion  that 
the  constitutions  now  before  us  are  valid,  being  enacted 
by  us  since  severall  of  the  proprietors  are  dead  who  signed 
the  same.  Carried  in  the  affirmative."  ^  It  is  not  easy  to 
understand  this  entry,  as  none  of  the  Constitutions  had 
ever  been  enacted  by  the  Assembly;  and  but  one  of  the 
Proprietors  who  signed  the  last  set  brought  out  by  Colonel 
Daniel  had  since  died,  i.e.  the  Earl  of  Bath.  It  was  then 
"ordered  that  the  said  constitutions  be  read  again,  and  de- 
bated paragraph  by  paragraph  to  morrow  morning."  They 
were  accordingly  so  read  and  debated  the  next  day,  Sep- 
tember 1,  whereupon  the  House  refused  to  order  them  to 
a  second  reading.^ 

When  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  was  made  Governor  the 
year  after,  he  was  instructed  to  obtain,  if  he  could,  the 
assent  of  the  Assembly  to  such  parts  of  the  Constitutions 
as  he  should  deem  advisable.  But  nothing  more  was  done 
in  the  matter,  and  this  was  practically  the  last  of  the 
famous  Fundamental  Laws  proposed  by  Locke,  except  the 
occasional  appointment  of  Landgraves  or  Caciques.  ^ 

In  the  midst  of  these  discussions  the  doors  of  the  As- 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  42.  ^  /ftj-^j. 


378  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

sembly  were  suddenly  closed,  and  when  they  were  opened, 
an  act  was  passed  for  raising  the  sum  of  <£2000  for  carry- 
ing on  an  expedition  against  St.  Augustine,  "  and  for 
appointing  the  number  of  men  and  ships  to  be  made  use 
of,  and  the  manner  and  method  of  going  against  the  said 
place."  1  Our  only  account  of  what  took  place  in  this 
secret  session  is  that  given  in  a  paper  from  which  quota- 
tion has  already  been  made,  purporting  to  be  a  "  Repre- 
sentation and  Address  "  of  several  members  returned  for 
Colleton  County  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
"and  signed  by  150  of  the  principal  inhabitants."  The 
paper  is  an  address  to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  complaining 
of  the  Governor  generally,  and  especially  of  their  treat- 
ment in  a  riot  which  ensued  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Colleton  members  from  the  Assembly.  It  is  loosely  and 
crudely  drawn,  is  inaccurate  in  its  statements,  and  reck- 
less in  its  imputations  of  motives.  Oldmixon,  the  author 
of  The  British  Empire  in  America^  however,  unhesitatingly 
adopts  its  account,  and  warmly  espouses  its  cause;  and 
in  this  he  has  been  followed,  more  or  less,  by  other  histo- 
rians .^  But,  though  claiming  to  be  a  churchman,  Old- 
mixon was  a  member  of  the  Blake  family,  as  a  tutor,  and 
was  a  thorough  partisan  of  the  interest  of  which  that 
family  was  the  head. 

The  address  charges  that  the  expedition  was  set  on  foot 
by  the  Governor  and  his  adherents  for  no  other  purpose 
than  catching  and  making  slaves  of  Indians  for  private 
advantage;  that  for  this  purpose  the  Governor  had  be- 
fore granted  commissions  to  Anthony  Dodsworth,  Robert 
Mackoone,  and  others  to  kill,  destroy,  and  capture  as  many 
Indians  as  they  possibly  could,  the  profit  and  produce  of 

1  Statutes,  vol.  II,  189. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  476  ;  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I, 
162  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  199. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  379 

which  capture  of  Indians  were  to  be  turned  to  the  Gov- 
ernor's private  account.  That  if  any  one  in  the  Assembly 
undertook  to  speak  against  the  expedition,  and  to  show 
how  unprepared  the  colonists  were  at  that  time  for  such 
an  attempt,  he  was  reviled  and  affronted  as  an  enemy 
and  traitor  to  his  country.^ 
_^  It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  the  debate  in  the  Assem- 
/  bly  was  conducted  with  warmth,  and  caused  great  excite- 
ment. It  may  well  be  imagined  that  strong  and  bitter 
words  were  used  against  those  who  were  opposing  the  ex- 
pedition, especially  if  in  their  opposition  they  had  been 
bold  enough  to  impute  the  motives  to  the  Governor,  with 
which  they  afterwards  charged  him  in  their  address  to  the 
Proprietors.  We  remember  how  bitterly  all  the  colonists 
had  resented  the  suppression  by  Colleton  of  the  expedition 
in  1686,  as  contrary  to  the  honor  of  the  English  nation. 
They  had  been  prevented  and  forbidden,  at  that  time,  from 
an  attempt  upon  the  Spanish  post,  because  it  was  said  Eng- 
land and  Spain  were  nominally  at  peace.  But  that  reason 
did  not  now  exist.  "  Queen  Anne's  War "  had  actually 
begun,  and  that  alone  presented  an  opportunity  of  striking 
a  blow  at  that  pestilential  spot  held  by  mongrel  Spaniards, 
as  a  constant  threat  to  the  provinces. 

But  the  cause  of  war  upon  St.  Augustine  at  this  time 
was  much  greater  and  more  immediate  than  the  mere  fact 
of  hostilities  between  England  and  Spain ;  and  that  cause 
was  not  alluded  to  in  the  address  of  the  Colleton  party. 
In  the  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Commons  upon  Ogle- 
thorpe's expedition,  made  forty  years  after  the  events  we 
are  now  considering,  a  sketch  is  given  of  two  previous 
invasions  of  Carolina  from  St.  Augustine,  and  in  this 
sketch  we  find  the  occasion  of  the  present  movement 
against  that  place.  From  this  report  it  appeal's  that  in 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  466. 


380  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAKOLTNA 

1702,  before  Queen  Anne's  declaration  of  war  was  known 
in  the  province,  the  Spaniards  had  formed  the  design 
again  to  fall  upon  the  Carolina  settlement  by  land  at 
the  head  of  900  Apalatchee  Indians.  The  Creek  Indians, 
in  friendship  with  the  Carolinians,  coming  to  a  know- 
ledge of  this  intended  invasion,  informed  the  traders, 
but  not  before  the  Spaniards'  expedition  was  on  its  march. 
The  Carolina  traders,  instead  of  retreating,  however, 
roused  the  Creeks  to  resistance  and,  collecting  500 
men,  headed  them,  and  went  out  to  meet  the  invaders. 
The  hostile  parties  met  one  evening  on  the  side 
of  Flint  River,  a  branch  of  the  Chattahoochee,  in 
Georgia.  In  the  morning  just  before  daybreak,  at  an 
hour  when  Indians  were  accustomed  to  make  their  attacks, 
the  Creeks,  stirring  up  their  fires,  drew  back  at  a  little 
distance,  leaving  their  blankets  by  the  fires  in  the  order 
in  which  they  had  slept.  As  was  expected,  the  Spaniards 
and  Apalatcheans,  coming  to  the  attack,  ran  in  and  fired 
upon  the  blankets,  whereupon  the  Creeks,  rushing  forth 
from  their  retreat,  fell  on  them,  killed,  and  took  the  greater 
part,  entirely  routing  them.^  It  was  upon  this  provoca- 
tion and  renewed  invasion  by  the  Spaniards,  that  it  was 
deemed  best  to  take  the  offensive  and  to  endeavor,  if 
possible,  to  wipe  out  this  constant  source  of  menace  and 
danger  to  the  province. 

Rivers  suggests  that  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
there  was  some  connection  between  this  affair  and  the 
charge  against  the  Governor  of  granting  to  irresponsible 
persons  the  power  to  set  upon  Indians  who  were  not  in 
open  hostility  against  the  colonists.^ 

Whatever  opposition  to  the  expedition  was  made  in  the 
Assembly  was  soon  overcome,  and  X2000  were  voted  to 

1  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  348. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  199,  200. 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  381 

carry  it  out.  It  was  agreed  to  raise  600  provincial  militia, 
an  equal  number  of  Indians,  and  ten  vessels  for  the  ex- 
pedition. Port  Royal  was  the  place  of  rendezvous,  and 
thence  in  September,  1702,  the  Governor  at  the  head  of 
his  little  army  embarked. 

In  the  plan  of  operation  it  had  been  agreed  that  Colonel 
Daniel,  with  a  detached  party,  should  go  by  the  inland 
passage  and  make  a  descent  upon  the  town  from  the  land, 
while  the  Governor  should  proceed  by  sea  and  block  up 
the  harbor.  The  precautions  to  keep  the  matter  secret  had 
been  unavailing.  The  inhabitants  of  St.  Augustine  heard 
of  it  and  sent  at  once  to  Havana  for  reinforcements. 
Retreating  to  their  castle  with  their  most  valuable  effects, 
and  provisions  for  four  months,  they  abandoned  the  town 
to  the  Carolinians.  Colonel  Daniel,  proceeding  by  land 
to  the  St.  John's  River,  going  down  that  river  in  small 
boats  and  landing  on  the  east  bank  in  the  rear  of  St. 
Augustine,  took  the  villages  of  St.  John's  and  St.  Mary's,  U^^ 
and  arrived  first  at  the  point  of  attack.  He  had  pillaged  J^*  '' 
the  town  before  the  fleet  arrived.  The  Governor  now 
entered  the  harbor,  landed  his  forces,  made  the  church  his 
quarters,  and  laid  siege  to  the  castle,  which  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  deep  moat ;  but,  unfortunately,  he  was  unpro- 
vided .  with  suitable  artillery  for  a  siege.  He  held  the 
town  for  a  month  and  dispatched  a  sloop  to  Jamaica  for 
mortars  and  bombs ;  but  the  commander  of  the  vessel, 
either  from  fear  or  treachery,  instead  of  going  thither, 
came  to  Carolina.  Remaining  here  for  some  time  until 
shamed  by  the  offer  of  others  to  go  instead,  he  reluctantly 
proceeded  again  on  his  mission.  The  Governor  all  the 
while  lay  before  the  castle  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
sloop  with  the  guns  ;  hearing  nothing  of  it.  Colonel  Daniel, 
who  was  the  life  of  the  expedition,  set  sail  himself  for 
Jamaica. 


382  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Having  with  great  expedition  procured  a  supply  of 
bombs,  he  sailed  again  for  St.  Augustine ;  but  in  the  mean- 
time, during  his  absence,  two  ships  had  appeared  in  the 
offing,  which  Governor  Moore  took  to  be  men-of-war,  and 
incontinently  raised  the  siege,  abandoned  his  ships  with 
all  the  stores,  ammunition,  and  provisions  to  the  enemy, 
while  he  retreated  to  Carolina  by  land.  The  two  men-of- 
war  that  appeared  to  the  Governor  so  formidable  proved  to 
be  two  small  frigates,  one  of  twenty-two  and  the  other  of 
sixteen  guns.  Colonel  Daniel,  thus  abandoned  on  his  re- 
turn from  Jamaica,  with  difficulty  escaped  capture.  He 
was  chased,  but  got  away.  The  Carolinians  lost  but  two 
men  ;  but  the  expedition  entailed  a  heavy  expense  upon  the 
colony.  It  incurred  a  debt  of  .£6000,^  probably  equal  to 
$120,000  in  present  currency.^ 

The  Assembly  had  been  under  prorogation  during  the 
Governor's  absence  ;  and  when  he  returned  it  met,  January, 
1703.  The  courage  and  conduct  of  Colonel  Daniel  were 
highly  praised,  but  the  Governor  was  thanked  reluctantly, 
and  not  without  dissent,  especially  from  Mr.  Ash. 

Though  greatly  disappointed  at  the  result  of  the  expe- 
dition, the  invasion  of  Florida  was  not  abandoned.  A 
majority  of  the  Assembly  began  at  once  to  enter  upon  a 
more  extensive  plan  for  the  reduction  not  only  of  St. 
Augustine,  but  of  Pensacola  and  other  Spanish  strongholds 
as  well.  A  brigantine  was  offered  to  Colonel  Daniel  to 
cruise  on  the  coast  of  Florida.  The  Assembly  also  offered 
to  supply  with  provisions  a  frigate  if  one  should  be  sent 
from  England  to  cruise  on  their  coast.     Colonel  Daniel 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  476-478  ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  422- 
424  ;  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 152-155;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  199-201,  Appendix,  456. 

2  This  is  estimating  the  value  of  the  pound  sterling  as  before  ;  but  this 
value  was  fluctuating,  and  the  value  of  money  gradually  lessening. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  383 

having  declined  the  command  of  the  brigantine,  it  was 
offered  to  Captain  William  Rhett.  But  before  another 
invasion  was  undertaken,  it  was  considered  best  to  pay  for 
the  last,  against  which  many  citizens  had  just  claims. 
After  considerable  delay,  caused  by  the  investigation  of 
the  committees,  two  bills  were  introduced,  one  laying  an 
imposition  on  skins,  furs,  liquors,  and  other  goods  and  mer- 
chandise imported  into  and  exported  out  of  the  province, 
for  raising  a  fund  towards  defraying  the  general  charges 
and  expenses  of  the  province  and  paying  the  debts  due 
for  the  expedition  against  St.  Augustine,  and  the  other  for 
raising  £4000  in  addition  to  the  £2000  which  it  had  at  first 
been  estimated  would  cover  the  expenses  of  the  expedition. 
This  sum  was  to  be  raised  by  a  direct  tax  upon  real  and 
personal  estates,  and  bills  of  credit  were  to  be  issued. 
The  first  of  these  measures,  which  was  adopted  on  the 
6th  of  May,  1703,  is  remarkable  for  a  provision  imposing 
a  duty  of  twenty  shillings  a  head  on  every  negro  slave 
(children  under  eight  years  old  excepted)  imported  from 
the  West  Indies,  or  any  other  place  but  Africa,  and  sold 
in  the  province ;  and  ten  shillings  per  head  on  all  such 
imported  from  Africa.^  This  was  the  first  tax  imposed 
upon  the  importation  of  negroes.  The  bill  to  raise  the 
additional  sum  of  £4000  created  great  astonishment  and 
gave  opportunity  to  the  disaffected  for  a  renewal  of  their 
opposition.  To  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  discontent,  a 
bill  twice  passed  by  the  House  for  regulating  elections 
being  sent  to  the  Governor  and  Council  for  concurrence 
was  summarily  rejected,  without,  as  usual,  inviting  a  con- 
ference. Upon  this,  several  —  Oldmixon  says  fifteen  out 
of  thirty  members  who  constituted  the  House  —  entered 
their  protest  under  the  instructions  of  those  who  sent  them, 
they  said,  and  left  the  House.  But  this  they  appear  to 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  201. 


384  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

have  done  more  by  way  of  threat  than  with  an  intention 
of  permanent  withdrawal ;  for  the  ver}^  next  day,  without 
any  invitation  to  return,  they  all  came  back  and  offered 
to  resume  their  seats  if  the  rest  of  the  Assembly  would 
join  them  in  the  assertion  of  their  rights.  The  remaining 
members  of  the  Assembly,  however,  had  taken  them  at 
their  word,  and  instead  of  welcoming  them  back,  the  pro- 
testing members  complained  that  they  were  abused,  reviled, 
and  treated  with  the  most  scandalous  reflections,  very  un- 
becoming, they  observe,  of  an  Assembly.  The  House,  how- 
ever, could  not  make  a  quorum  without  them,  and  so  were 
obliged  to  adjourn. 

The  Colleton  members  had,  by  their  own  showing,  so 
far  behaved  in  a  weak,  undignified,  and  unmanly  manner. 
They  had  begun  by  making  the  most  injurious  charges 
against  the  honesty  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  imput- 
ing the  most  scandalous  motives,  holding  back  when  the 
welfare  and  safety  of  the  province  demanded  the  most 
earnest  support  of  the  expedition  against  St.  Augustine, 
resisting  the  enfranchisement  of  the  French  while  making 
new  demands  for  their  own  privileges ;  then  because  they 
could  not  have  their  own  way,  they  had  withdrawn  from 
the  house,  and  immediately  changing  their  minds  had 
come  back,  begging  to  be  received  again.  It  is  almost  piti- 
ful to  read  their  whining  complaint  to  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors.    They  wrote :  — 

"  And  we  further  represent  to  your  Lordships  that  a  day  or  two 
after  such  abuse  was  given  to  them  in  the  house  several  of  the  said 
members  viz :  the  said  John  A  sh  —  Landgrave  Thomas  Smith  ^  and  others 

1  Thomas  Smith,  the  second  son  of  Thomas  Smith,  the  Landgrave,  who 
died  in  1692.  This  Thomas  Smith,  Mrs.  Poyas  says,  was  born  in  England 
in  1670,  and  was  brought  over  when  a  few  months  old.  He  was  called  the 
"little  Englishman."  The  Olden  Time  of  Carolina^  18.  But  this,  we 
have  been  informed,  is  a  mistake.  He  was  born  in  Madagascar,  where 
his  father  lived  before  he  came  to  South  Carolina. 


tJNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  386 

were  assaulted  &  set  upon  in  the  open  street  without  any  provocation 
or  affront  by  them  given  or  offered.  The  said  Thomas  Smith  was  set 
upon  by  Lieut  Col :  George  Dearshy  who  with  his  drawn  sword  and 
the  point  held  at  the  said  Smiths  belly  swore  he  would  kill  him,  and 
if  he  had  not  been  prevented  would  have  done  the  said  Smith  some 
considerable  mischief  to  the  endangering  of  his  life.  The  said  John 
Ash  walking  along  the  Street  was  assaulted  by  a  rude  drunken  un- 
governable rabble  headed  encouraged  &  abbetted  by  the  said  Dearshy 
Thomas  Dalton  Nicholas  Nary  and  other  persons  Inhabitants  who  set 
upon  the  said  Ash  and  used  him  villanously  &  barbarously;  and  that 
evening  when  he  the  said  Ash  was  retired  into  a  friends  chamber  for 
security  the  same  armed  multitude  came  to  the  House  where  the 
said  Ash  was  &  demanded  him  down  assuring  him  at  the  same  time 
that  they  would  do  him  no  hurt,  but  only  wanted  to  discourse  with 
him;  upon  which  assurance  he  came  down  to  them  who  notwith- 
stand'g  being  encouraged  and  assisted  by  Captain  Rhett  &  others  drew 
him  on  board  his  the  said  Rhetts  ship  revilling  him  &  threatening 
him  as  they  dragged  him  along ;  and  having  gotten  him  on  board  the 
said  Rhetts  ship  they  sometimes  told  him  they  would  carry  him  to 
Jamaica  at  other  times  they  threatened  to  hang  him  or  leave  him  on 
some  remote  Island." 

They  complained  that  the  Governor  was  cognizant  of 
the  riot,  treated  many  persons  engaged  in  it  to  drink,  and 
gave  them  great  encouragement,  telling  them  "that  the 
protesting  members  would  bring  the  people  on  their  heads 
for  neglecting  to  pay  the  country's  debts  ;  which  if  it  should 
happen  he  knew  not  who  could  blame  them,"  etc. ;  that 
while  the  riot  continued,  which  it  did  for  four  or  five  days. 
Landgrave  Edmund  Bellinger,  who  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  was  the  only  official  who  attempted  to  do  his  duty ; 
and  that  for  so  doing  Captain  Rhett  had  beat  him  over  the 
head  with  his  cane  ;  that  during  the  riot  a  woman,  the  wife 
of  a  butcher,  was  thrown  down,  miscarried  and  brought  forth 
a  dead  child  ;  that  when  Ash,  Smith,  Byres,  and  Boone  com- 
plained to  the  Governor,  they  received  no  other  satisfaction 
than  that  "  it  was  a  business  for  a  Justice  of  the  Peace."  ^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  459. 
2c 


386  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

And  so  undoubtedly  it  was.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a 
riot  caused  by  the  indignation  of  the  people  against  the 
protesting  members,  who,  to  carry  an  election  law  they 
desired  for  the  exclusion  of  the  French,  to  prevent  the 
payment  of  the  claims  arising  from  the  expedition  to  St. 
Augustine,  and  to  prevent  the  sending  another  expedition 
to  destroy  that  stronghold  of  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the 
community,  had  broken  the  quorum  of  the  House.  For 
their  own  political  ends,  they  had  thwarted  the  purposes  of 
the  people  in  a  matter  vitally  affecting  their  safety.  And 
yet  in  the  terrible  riot  that  occurred,  nobody  had  been  seri- 
ously hurt,  unless  it  was  the  woman  who  had  been  acci- 
dentally thrown  down  in  opening  a  door. 

To  sum  up  the  casualties.  Landgrave  Smith  had  had 
a  sword  pointed  at  him,  Landgrave  Bellinger  had  re- 
ceived a  whack  across  his  head,  and  Thomas  Ash  had 
been  tussled  into  a  boat  and  frightened  into  believing 
that  he  was  to  be  sent  to  Jamaica. 

There  was  no  court  held  in  Charles  Town  after  the  riot, 
until  Moore  was  superseded  and  transferred  to  his  new 
office,  that  of  Attorney  General ;  and  it  was  scarcely  to 
be  expected  that  under  the  circumstances  he  would  have 
been  vigorous  in  the  prosecution  of  the  rioters.  Bellinger 
did,  nevertheless,  lay  a  record  of  the  events  before  the 
grand  jury,  but  no  presentment  was  made.  Neither  the 
new  Governor,  the  Council,  nor  the  courts  took  any  steps 
in  the  matter.  Nor  did  the  aggrieved  party  meet  with 
support  or  sympathy  when  they  sent  Mr.  Ash,  as  their 
agent,  to  the  Proprietors  in  England  with  the  memorial 
from  which  the  above-mentioned  events  have  been  mostly 
taken. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

1701-1706 

John,  Earl  of  Bath,  the  fourth  Palatine,  died  August 
21,  1701.  But  so  negligent  were  the  Proprietors  of  the 
affairs  of  the  colony  that  no  meeting  was  held  for  five 
months  after  his  death.  Then,  on  January  10,  1701-1702, 
John  Lord  Granville  succeeded  the  Earl  his  father,  as 
the  fifth  Palatine  of  Carolina.^  The  other  proprietorships 
were  represented  by  William  Lord  Craven ;  the  Hon. 
Maurice  Ashley,  son  of  the  second  Earl  of  Shaftesbury; 
that  of  the  minor  Lord  Carteret  by  Lord  Granville.  The 
troublesome  share  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  held  by  Mr. 
Thornburgh,  substituted  trustee  in  the  place  of  Thomas 
Amy,  who  was  now  dead,  was  in  1705  sold  to  John  Arch- 
dale,  who  thus  appears  to  have  recognized  the  right  of 
the  four  Proprietors  under  their  purchase  from  Ludwell 
and  his  wife,  notwithstanding  his  own  previous  purchase 
from  that  lady.  The  share  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  then 
of  Sothell,  which  the  Proprietor  had  given  to  Thomas 
Amy,  he  had  settled  upon  Nicholas  Trott,  Esq.,  of  Lon- 
don, who  had  married  his  daughter,^  but  the  other  Pro- 
prietors never  recognized  Trott's  proprietorship,  nor 
admitted  him  to  its  possession  or  profits.  The  Colleton 
share  was  represented  by  the  second  Sir  John  Colleton, 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  150. 

2  Danson  v.  Trott,  et  al. ,  3d.  Brown'' s  Pari.  Beports,  449.  This 
Nicholas  Trott  was  a  cousin  of  the  Nicholas  Trott  in  Carolina.  He  was 
the  same  who  joined  with  John  Trott  in  giving  a  power  of  attorney  to 
collect  from  William  Rhett  their  share  of  a  mercantile  adventure. 

387 


^88  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

lately  become  of  age.  That  formerly  of  Lord  Berkeley  was 
now  owned  by  the  minor  son  of  Landgrave  Joseph  Blake. 

On  March  11,  1701,  the  Privy  Council  announced  to 
the  Proprietors  of  Carolina  the  death  of  King  William 
and  ordered  the  proclamation  of  Queen  Anne.  This  order, 
on  March  21,  the  Proprietors  enclose  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  in  Carolina.^  On  May  8,  1702,  the  Commissioners 
of  Trade  formally  notify  the  Proprietors  of  the  war  with 
France  and  Spain.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Board  of 
Trade,  urged  on  by  Randolph,  were  advising  the  Royal 
authorities  to  reassume  the  government  of  the  colonies 
and  unite  them  under  one  administration.  "An  act  for 
remitting  to  the  crown  the  government  of  several  colonies 
and  plantations  in  America"  was  drawn,  and  only  failed 
of  passage  in  Parliament,  it  was  said,  by  reason  of  the 
shortness  of  time  and  multiplicity  of  other  business.^ 

In  1699  the  Proprietors  had  been  summoned  to  White- 
hall and  asked  how  it  was  that  his  Majesty's  approbation 
had  not  been  obtained  for  appointment  of  Governor  Blake 
as  required  by  the  act  of  Parliament  for  preventing  frauds, 
etc.  Mr.  Thornburgh,  answering  for  them,  had  stated 
that  the  then  Governor  (Blake)  was  not  so  by  virtue  of 
any  commission  from  the  Proprietors,  but  by  virtue  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  as  being  a  Proprietor  himself ; 
but  that  the  Lords  Proprietors  contemplated  deputing  one 
before  long.^  This  was  not  strictly  true.  Blake,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  been  appointed  by  Archdale  under  a  power 
from  their  board,  an  appointment  which  had  been  ap- 
proved by  them.*  Three  years  had  elapsed  and  no  ap- 
pointment had  been  made.  They  now  at  last  determined 
to  appoint  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson.  Hewatt  states  that  the 
Proprietors  could  not  at  first  obtain  Queen  Anne's  appro- 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  151.  a  /^^-^.^  510. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  iVb.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  635,  540,  654.    *  See  ante,  pp.  287-288. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  889 

bation  of  Sir  Nathaniel  because  it  was  suspected  that  he 
was  not  a  friend  to  the  Revolution,  and  that  her  approval 
could  only  be  obtained  on  the  condition  of  his  giving 
security  for  the  observance  of  the  laws  of  trade  and  navi- 
gation, and  to  obey  such  instructions  as  should  be  sent 
him  from  time  to  time  by  her  Majesty ;  which  security  the 
Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations  were  ordered  to 
take  care  should  be  sufficient.^  The  historian  does  not 
give  his  authority  for  the  statement.  It  is  scarcely  proba- 
ble that  Queen  Anne  and  her  Tory  administration,  with 
Lord  Godolphin  at  its  head,  would  have  objected  to  any  one 
because  he  had  refused  to  abandon  the  cause  of  the  Stuarts. 
The  requirement  of  security  was  a  general  regulation  im- 
posed at  the  instance  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1697,  and 
which  it  appears  the  board  was  zealously  enforcing.  Sir 
Nathaniel  was  too  much  in  accord  with  the  political  and 
religious  views  of  the  now  dominant  party  in  England  to 
fear  refusal  of  his  confirmation  as  Governor  of  Carolina. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1702,  the  Lords  Proprietors 
issued  their  commission  to  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  as  Gov- 
ernor both  of  South  and  North  Carolina;  and  with  his 
commission  they  sent  their  instructions  of  the  same  date. 
He  was  to  follow  such  rules  as  had  been  given  to  former 
Governors  in  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  and  Tempo- 
rary Laws,  and  to  be  guided  by  them  as  far  as  in  his 
judgment  he  might  think  fit  and  expedient.  He  was  re- 
quired, with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  his  Council, 
carefully  to  review  the  Constitutions  and  to  lay  before  the 
Assembly,  for  their  concurrence  and  assent,  such  of  them 
as  he  should  think  necessary  to  the  better  establishment 
of  government  and  calculated  for  the  good  of  the  people. 
He  was  to  use  his  endeavors  to  dispose  of  their  lands,  but 
to  take  nothing  less  than  £20  for  1000  acres  and  in  all 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  162. 


390  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

future  grants  to  provide  that  the  lands  should  escheat  to 
the  Pi'oprietors  unless  a  settlement  was  made  on  them 
withm  the  space  of  four  years.  He  was  to  take  special  care 
that  the  Indians  were  not  abused  or  insulted,  and  to  study 
the  best  methods  of  civilizing  them  and  making  a  firm 
friendship  with  them  in  order  to  protect  the  colony  against 
the  Spaniards.  He  was  to  transmit  to  England  exact 
copies  of  all  laws  passed,  and  of  all  annual  rents  paid. 
An  act  had  been  passed  in  1701  by  the  Assembly  in  South 
Carolina  for  regulating  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of 
Admiralty  in  the  province.  The  Proprietors  sent  to  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  an  opinion  of  counsel  furnished  them  by 
the  Board  of  Trade,  that  its  provisions  were  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  practice  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty 
in  England,  and  they  instructed  Sir  Nathaniel  to  have 
the  same  amended  as  necessary.^ 

On  the  28th  of  July  Mr.  Robert  Johnson,  the  Governor's 
son,  with  Mr.  Hutcheson,  the  agent  of  the  Proprietors, 
attended  at  Whitehall  and  acquainting  the  board  that  he 
was  in  possession  of  an  estate  at  Keeblesworth  in  the 
County  of  Durham  with  X200  per  annum,  which  Sir 
Nathaniel,  his  father,  who  was  tenant  for  life,  had  made 
over  to  him,  he  was  accepted  as  one  of  his  father's  sure- 
ties. Mr.  Thomas  Cary,  Archdale's  son-in-law,  a  Carolina 
merchant,  was  taken  for  the  other. ^ 

Though  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson's  commission  was  dated 
in  June,  1702,  it  did  not  arrive  in  Carolina  until  some  time 
in  1703.  With  his  commission  as  Governor  came  also  a 
commission  for  Nicholas  Trott  as  Chief  Justice,  for  James 
Moore,  the  Governor,  as  Attorney  General,  and  for  Job 
Howes  as  Surveyor  General.  When  Granville  had  desired 
the  Queen's  approbation  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  the  fact 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  Vol.  I,  162  ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  665-667.  2  j^i^^^  557, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  391 

was  known  that,  while  Governor  in  the  West  Indies,  he 
had  refused  to  take  the  new  oaths  upon  the  revolution 
in  England  which,  as  we  have  observed,  was  probably  a 
recommendation  of  him  to  Anne,  and  his  experience  and 
courage  were  urged  as  particularly  fitting  him  for  the 
critical  position  of  the  Governor  of  a  frontier  during  the 
war  against  France  and  Spain.^ 

With  the  new  administration  a  new  Assembly  was 
elected,  and  the  Colleton  members  charged  that  in  this 
election  that  of  the  members  to  serve  from  Berkeley  was 
managed  with  greater  injustice  to  the  freemen  of  the 
province  even  than  the  former.  "  For  at  this  last  elec- 
tion," they  said,  "  Jews  strangers,  sailors  servants,  ne- 
groes and  almost  every  Freiichnvdn  in  Craven  and  Berkeley 
counties  came  down  to  elect  and  their  votes  were  taken 
the  persons  by  them  voted  for  were  returned  by  the 
Sheriff,"  etc.^  It  was  the  voting  of  the  Frenchmen  to 
which  the  Colleton  dissenters  were  so  opposed,  ^his  was 
the  real  ground  and  cause  of  their  complaint,  and  the 
reason  is  obvious.  There  was  no  bitterness  between  the 
Huguenots  and  the  High  Churchmen.  The  Huguenots 
were  not  dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England  as  were 
the  Congregationalists  under  the  lead  of  Morton  and 
Boone,  or  as  the  Baptists  under  Screven.  They  were 
Protestants  against  the  Church  of  Rome,  just  as  were  the 
churchmen  of  England.  Though,  in  strict  matter  of  faith, 
the  Huguenot  was  a  Calvinist,  he  had  no  disposition  to 
quarrel  with  the  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England. 
On  the  contrary,  he  was  most  kindly  disposed  to  that 
body,  though  not  fully  agreeing  with  all  its  tenets.  When 
first  driven  from  France,  Canterbury  offered  an  asylum  to 
these  persecuted  Protestants,  and  Archbishop  Parker,  with 
the  consent  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  granted  the  exiles  the  use 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  206.         2  j^jj^.^  Appendix,  459, 


392  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

of  the  under  croft  or  crypt  of  the  cathedral  where  "  the 
gentle  and  profitable  strangers,"  as  the  archbishop  styled 
them,  not  only  celebrated  their  worship,  but  set  up  their 
looms  and  carried  on  their  several  trades.^  The  Hugue- 
nots had  been  protected  by  Cromwell,  and  Charles  II  had 
assisted  at  his  own  expense  in  the  transportation  of  some 
of  them  to  this  country.  They  did  not  object  to  a  lit- 
urgy. They  themselves  had  been  accustomed  to  one.  It 
was  because  these  people  would  not  join  the  dissenters  to 
control  the  colony  that  their  indignation  was  so  aroused 
because  aliens  were  allowed  to  vote. 

The  new  Assembly  in  April,  1703,  thanked  their  Lord- 
ships the  Proprietors  for  the  appointment  of  Governor 
Johnson,  and  requested,  as  their  own  resources  were  ex- 
hausted by  the  late  expedition,  that  the  Queen  would  send 
them  warlike  stores  and  forces  and  a  frigate,  for  they 
said :  "  Though  we  are  immediately  under  your  Lordships' 
government,  yet  we  are  her  subjects,  and  we  hope  not  only 
to  defend  ourselves,  but  even  to  take  St.  Augustine." 

Governor  Johnson  devoted  himself  immediately  to  the 
fortification  of  the  town  and  preparation  for  the  defence  of 
the  province.  With  limited  resources  he  wisely  stayed  at 
home  and  exerted  himself  to  render  the  capital  of  his  prov- 
ince as  defendable  as  possible,  but  Moore,  restless,  ener- 
getic, and  ambitious,  and  burning  to  redeem  his  diminished 
reputation,  persuaded  Sir  Nathaniel  to  allow  him  to  make 
another  invasion  of  the  territory  of  the  Apalachian,  north- 
west of  St.  Augustine,  which  supplied  that  place  with  pro- 
visions and  in  which  there  were  many  small  Spanish  forts 
and  Roman  Catholic  chapels.  Moore  set  forth  in  Decem- 
ber, 1703,  at  the  head  of  50  Carolina  volunteers  and  1000 

1  The  Huguenots  (Samuel  Smiles),  1868,  123;  "Historical  Sketch  of 
South  Carolina,"  Preface  to  Cyclo.  of  Eminent  Men  of  the  Carolinas 
(Edward  McCrady). 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  393 

Indians.  The  first  town  which  he  reached  was  one 
known  as  Ayaville,  having  a  tolerably  complete  fortifica- 
tion with  its  usual  appendage,  a  chapel.  The  Carolinians 
assaulted  the  fort,  but  were  repulsed. 

Balls  and  arrows  greeted  Moore's  approach,  from  which 
his  men  first  took  refuge  behind  a  mud-walled  house,  then, 
forming  to  the  assault,  they  rushed  forward  and  attempted 
to  break  down  the  chapel  doors,  but  were  beaten  back 
with  the  loss  of  two  men,  —  Francis  Plowden  and  Thomas 
Dale.  Two  hours  after  they  succeeded,  with  the  aid  of 
the  Indians,  in  setting  fire  to  the  chapel.  They  captured 
only  one  white  man,  a  friar,  and  about  50  Indians  and 
over  100  women  and  children,  and  killed  in  the  two  as- 
saults 25  men.  The  next  morning  23  Spaniards,  with 
400  Indian  allies,  renewed  battle  with  the  Carolinians. 
The  Carolinians  were  again  victorious ;  the  Spanish 
leader  and  eight  of  his  men  were  taken  prisoners,  and  five 
or  six  killed,  with  about  200  Indians.  On  the  part  of  the 
Carolinians,  Captain  John  Bellinger  was  killed  fighting 
bravely  at  the  head  of  his  men.  On  the  same  day  Captain 
Fox  died  of  his  wounds  received  at  the  assault  at  Ayaville. 
Five  fortified  towns  now  surrendered  unconditionally. 

The  Cacique  of  Ibitachtka,  being  strongly  posted,  was 
treated  with  and  compounded  for  safety  with  "  his  church 
plate  and  ten  horses  laden  with  provisions."  "  I  am  will- 
ing to  bring  away  with  me,"  says  Colonel  Moore,  "  free, 
as  many  of  the  Indians  as  I  can,  this  being  the  address  of 
the  commons  to  your  honor  to  order  it  so.  This  will  make 
my  men's  part  of  plunder  (which  otherwise  might  have 
been  XlOO  to  a  man)  but  small."  He  returned  in  March 
with  1300  free  Apalachians  and  100  slaves.  By  the 
devastation  committed  by  Moore's  own  men  and  the  depre- 
dations of  his  numerous  allies,  the  country  of  the  enemy 
was  completely  subdued.     He  received  the  thanks  of  the 


394  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Proprietors,  "wiped  off  the  ignominy  of  his  failure  at 
St.  Augustine,  and  increased  his  means  by  the  sale  or 
bondage  of  Indian  captives."^ 

The  three  ensuing  years  are  among  the  most  interesting 
in  the  history  of  the  province.  It  was  during  these  that, 
following  the  course  of  events  in  England,  the  attempt 
was  made  under  the  direction  of  Granville  to  exclude 
dissenters  from  participation  in  the  government  of  the 
colony.  But  this  important  matter  must  be  reserved  for 
a  succeeding  chapter.  For  the  present  we  pass  over  these 
years,  to  follow  the  events  of  the  war  between  Eng- 
land on  the  one  hand,  and  France  and  Spain  on  the  other, 
which  took  place  in  Carolina. 

Carolina,  forming  on  the  south  and  west  the  frontier 
of  the  English  settlements,  was  open  to  invasion  from 
Havana,  as  well  as  from  St.  Augustine.  Sir  Nathaniel 
Johnson,  having  long  expected  an  attack  from  the  French 
and  Spaniards,  had  exerted  himself  to  put  the  town  and 
colony  in  the  best  state  of  defence.  His  first  measure  was 
one  which  was  to  be  the  basis  of  all  future  legislation  in 
regard  to  the  domestic  police  of  the  province  and  State, 
until  the  abolition  of  slavery.  From  the  preamble  of  the 
act,  which  was  passed  in  1704,2  we  learn  that  its  purpose 
was  to  provide  against  insurrections  of  the  negro  slaves 
upon  occasions  of  invasion  of  the  province  which  would 
draw  the  men  of  the  colony  to  the  coast.  It  provided  for 
the  draft  of  ten  men  from  every  militia  company  properly 
mounted,  armed,  and  accoutred  under  a  captain  or  other 
officer,  whose  duty  it  was  to  muster  his  men  as  a  patrol 
upon  all  occasions  of  alarm,  and  at  other  times,  as  often  as 
he  or  the  General  should  think  fit,  and  with  them  to  ride 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  208,  209;  Moore's  account,  Car- 
roll's Coll.,  vol.  II,  574.     Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  167. 
2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  254. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  395 

from  plantation  to  plantation,  and  to  take  up  all  slaves 
which  they  should  meet  without  their  masters'  plantations, 
which  had  not  a  permit  or  ticket  from  their  masters,  and  to 
punish  them  as  provided  by  the  act  for  the  better  ordering 
of  slaves.  Upon  this  beginning  was  based  the  patrol  laws 
which,  modified  from  time  to  time,  formed  the  military 
police  system  of  which  we  have  spoken  in  the  introduc- 
tory chapter.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Governor  pressed 
forward  the  work  upon  the  fortifications  and  preparations 
for  defence  against  the  threatened  invasion.  In  a  letter 
of  the  Grand  Council  to  the  Queen's  officei's  in  England, 
written  in  1708,  the  defences  of  the  town  erected  at  this 
time  are  thus  described :  — 

"  Charles  Town  the  chief  port  in  Carolina  by  the  direc- 
tion and  dilligence  of  our  present  governor.  Sir  Nathaniel 
Johnson,  is  surrounded  with  a  regular  fortification,  con- 
sisting of  bastions,  flankers  and  half  moons  ditched  and 
palisaded  and  mounted  with  83  guns.  Also  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  harbor  in  a  place  called  Windmill  Point 
(within  a  carbine  shot  of  which  all  vessels  must  pass  by)  is 
now  building  and  almost  finished  a  triangular  fort  and 
platform  of  capacity  to  mount  30  guns  which  when  finished 
will  be  the  key  and  bulwark  of  this  province  but  wanting 
some  large  heavy  guns  both  for  the  fortification  and 
about  Charles  Town  and  the  said  fort  and  platform  to- 
gether with  a  suitable  store  of  shot."  ^ 

Windmill  Point  is  that  ever  since  known  as  Fort  John- 
son.2  Trenches  were  cast  up  on  White  Point,  now  the 
Charleston  Battery,  and  other  places  where  thought  neces- 
sary.    A  guard  was  stationed  on  Sullivan's  Island,  which 

1  MSS.  Letter  to  Board  of  Trade,  quoted  by  Rivers,  Hist.  Sketches 
of  So.  Ca.,  207. 

2  The  point  from  which  the  first  gun  in  the  late  war  between  the 
States  was  fired. 


396  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

commanded  a  view  of  the  ocean,  with  orders  to  kindle  a 
number  of  fires  opposite  to  the  town  equal  to  the  number 
of  ships  that  might  appear  on  the  coast.^ 

Yellow  fever,  which  had  first  visited  Charles  Town  in 
1699,  again  made  its  appearance  in  1706,  and  was  raging 
in  the  town  when  news  came  that  an  expedition  was  being 
organized  at  Havana  for  the  invasion  of  the  place. 

Governor  Johnson  had  taken  the  precaution  of  having 
a  privateer  fitted  out  for  cruising  on  the  coast,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Stool,  who  was  to  keep  a  lookout, 
and  was  particularly  charged  to  intercept  supplies  which 
were  regularly  sent  to  St.  Augustine  from  Havana.  Cap- 
tain Stool  had  been  out  a  few  days  when,  on  Saturday,  the 
24th  of  August,  he  returned,  bringing  the  report  that  he 
had  engaged  a  French  sloop  off  the  bar  of  St.  Augustine, 
but  upon  seeing  four  other  ships  advancing  to  her  assist- 
ance, he  thought  proper  to  make  all  the  sail  he  could  for 
Charles  Town  and  had  narrowly  escaped  falling  into  the 
enemy's  hands.  Scarcely  had  he  made  this  report  when  five 
separate  smokes  appeared  on  Sullivan's  Island  as  a  signal  to 
the  town  that  that  number  of  ships  was  observed  on  the  coast. 

This  invasion  had  been  concerted  at  Havana.  Mon- 
sieur Le  Feboure,  a  captain  of  a  French  frigate,  with 
four  armed  sloops  had  set  sail  for  Charles  Town,  with 
directions  to  touch  at  St.  Augustine  and  to  carry  from 
thence  such  a  force  as  he  judged  adequate  to  the  enter- 
prise. Upon  his  arrival  at  St.  Augustine  he  had  learned 
of  the  epidemic  which  raged  at  Charles  Town,  and  that 
it  had  swept  away  a  vast  number  of  the  inhabitants.  This, 
instead  of  intimidating  and  deterring  him  from  his  pur- 
pose, determined  him  to  proceed  with  greater  expedition, 
hoping  to  find  the  town  in  a  weak  and  defenceless  condi- 
tion, as  the  country  militia,  he  supposed,  would  be  afraid 
1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  180. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  397 

to  come  to  its  support  because  of  the  fatal  infection. 
Taking  on  board  a  considerable  number  of  men  at  St. 
Augustine,  he  made  sail  for  Carolina. 

Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  at  the  time  was  at  his  planta- 
tion Silk-Hope,  several  miles  from  town,  but  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Rhett,  commanding  officer  of  the  militia,  who  was 
on  the  spot,  immediately  ordered  the  drums  to  beat  and 
all  of  the  inhabitants  to  be  put  under  arms.  A  mes- 
senger was  dispatched  with  the  news  to  the  Governor  and 
orders  to  all  the  captains  of  militia  in  the  country  to  fire 
alarm  guns,  raise  their  companies,  and  march  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  town. 

In  the  evening  the  enemy's  fleet  came  to  the  bar ;  but 
as  the  passage  was  intricate,  they  did  not  think  it  prudent 
to  venture  over  it  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  Early 
Sunday  morning,  the  25th,  watchmen  on  Sullivan's  Island 
observed  them  a  little  to  the  southward  of  the  bar  manning 
their  galley  and  boats  as  if  they  intended  to  land  on 
James  Island.  But  they  came  to  anchor  and  spent  all 
that  day  in  sounding  the  south  bar.  This  delay  was  of 
great  consequence  to  the  Carolinians,  as  it  afforded  time 
to  collect  the  militia  in  the  country. 

Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  came  in  on  Sunday,  and  found 
the  inhabitants  in  great  consternation,  but  being  a  man  of 
established  courage  and  skill  in  war,  his  presence  inspired 
the  people  with  confidence  and  resolution.  To  avoid  ex- 
posing the  country  troops  to  the  contagion  of  the  town,  he 
established  his  headquarters  about  half  a  mile  from  it. 
Martial  law  was  proclaimed.  In  the  evening  Major  George 
Broughton,  with  two  companies,  and  the  gentlemen  of 
Colonel  Logan's  troop  arrived  and  kept  watch  during  the 
night.  Early  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  27th,  Captains 
Johnson,  Linche,  and  Hearne,  and  Drake  from  James  Island 
were  posted  with  their  companies  in  the  immediate  neigh- 


398  HISTOKY   OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

borhood  of  the  town.  The  same  morning  the  enemy,  with 
four  ships  and  a  galley  and  a  number  of  boats  for  landing 
their  men,  crossed  the  south  bar  and  stood  for  the  town 
with  fair  wind  and  tide ;  but  when  they  came  in  view  of 
its  fortification,  where  the  Governor  with  his  forces  stood 
ready  to  receive  them,  they  suddenly  bore  up  and  came  to 
anchor  under  Sullivan's  Island.  A  sloop,  which  had  been 
sent  over  to  Wando  River  to  bring  Captain  Fenwicke  and 
his  company,  succeeded  in  doing  so,  notwithstanding  an 
attempt  of  the  enemy's  galley  to  intercept  them. 

The  next  morning,  Wednesday,  the  28th,  Captains  Long- 
bois  from  San  tee  and  Seabrook  from  the  islands,  disregard- 
ing the  pestilence,  marched  their  men  into  the  town.  As 
the  enemy  hesitated,  a  council  of  war  was  held,  and  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  determined  to  assume  the  offensive,  and  to 
go  out  and  attack  them.  Three  ships,  a  brigantine,  two 
sloops,  and  a  fireship,  all  the  harbor  afforded,  were  manned 
and  equipped,  and  Colonel  Rhett,  who  fortunately  was  a 
sailor,  was  commissioned  as  Vice  Admiral,  hoisted  his  flag, 
and  was  ready  for  action. 

Observing  these  preparations  for  resistance,  the  enemy, 
who  had  so  boldly  crossed  the  bar,  resorted  to  parley. 
They  sent  up  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  Governor,  summoning 
him  to  surrender.  The  flag  was  received  by  Captain 
Evans,  the  commander  of  Granville's  Bastion,  and  the 
messenger  upon  landing  was  at  once  blindfolded,  and  held 
until  Governor  Johnson  was  ready  to  receive  him.  When 
taken  to  his  presence,  the  messenger  informed  the  Gov- 
ernor that  he  was  sent  to  demand,  in  the  name  of  the 
French  King,  the  surrender  of  the  town  and  country, 
and  the  inhabitants  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  that  only  one 
hour  was  granted  for  his  decision.  The  Governor  promptly 
and  emphatically  replied  "  that  it  needed  not  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  or  a  minute's  time  to  give  an  answer  to  that  de- 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  399 

mand,  for  he  might  see  he  was  not  in  such  a  condition  as 
to  be  obliged  to  surrender  the  town ;  but  that  he  kept  the 
same  and  would  defend  it  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  great  Queen  of  England  and  that  he  valued  not  any 
force  he  had ;  and  bid  him  go  about  his  business." 

Governor  Johnson  was  given  but  an  hour  to  reply ;  but 
when  the  reply  was  so  promptly  made,  the  demand  was 
not  followed  up  by  the  French  commander  at  the  expi- 
ration of  the  hour  or  even  at  the  end  of  the  day,  nor 
was  any  general  attack  made.  The  day  following,  Thurs- 
day, the  29th,  a  party  of  the  enemy  went  ashore  on  James 
Island  and  burnt  the  houses  on  a  plantation  by  the  river 
side.  Another  party,  consisting  of  160  men,  on  Friday 
morning,  the  30th,  landed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  har- 
bor, and  burnt  two  vessels  in  Dearsby's,  now  Shem's,  Creek, 
and  set  fire  to  his  storehouse.  Captain  Drake  and  his 
company,  with  a  small  party  of  Indians,  was  sent  to  James 
Island,  to  meet  the  enemy  there,  while  Captain  Fenwicke 
and  Cantey  crossed  the  Cooper,  and  marched  against  the 
party  which  had  landed  in  Wando  Neck.  The  latter  party 
came  up  with  the  enemy  before  the  break  of  day  and,  find- 
ing them  unguarded  with  their  fires  burning,  surprised 
them.  A  brisk  engagement  ensued,  in  which  about  a 
dozen  of  the  invaders  were  killed  and  thirty-three  taken 
prisoners.  Some  perished  in  attempting  to  escape  by 
swimming.  On  the  side  of  the  Carolinians  there  was  but 
one  killed.  Sir  Nathaniel  now  assumed  the  aggressive. 
Colonel  Rhett,  with  a  fleet  of  six  small  vessels,  on  Satur- 
day morning,  the  31st,  sailed  out  and  proceeded  down  the 
river  to  where  the  enemy's  ship  lay  at  anchor.  In  haste 
and  confusion  they  weighed  and  stood  for  sea.  Threaten- 
ing weather  prevented  a  pursuit.  Nothing  more  was 
heard  of  the  enemy ;  but  to  be  assured  of  their  departure, 
on  Sunday,  the  1st  of  September,  the  Governor  ordered 


400  HiStORY  OF   gOtJta   CAROLINA 

Captain  Watson  of  the  Sea  Flower  to  search  and  report. 
The  captain  returned  without  seeing  the  enemy,  but  ob- 
serving some  men  on  shore  whom  they  had  left  behind, 
he  took  them  on  board  and  brought  them  to  town. 

The  country  companies  had  been  discharged  and  martial 
law  had  ceased,  when  information  was  now  brought  that 
a  ship  had  anchored  in  Sewee  Bay  and  landed  its  crew. 
Captain  Fenwicke  was  at  once,  on  Monday,  the  2d  of  Sep- 
tember sent  by  land  against  this  new  movement;  while 
Colonel  Rhett,  Captain  Evans,  and  a  number  of  gentlemen 
as  volunteers,  went  by  sea  in  a  Bermudian  sloop  with  the 
privateer  which  had  brought  the  information  of  the  inva- 
sion. This  ship  at  Sewee  was  one  of  the  French  fleet 
under  Captain  Pacquereau,  having  200  men  on  board,  and 
had  been  intended  as  an  important  part  in  the  invasion. 
Captain  Pacquereau  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of 
the  repulse  of  his  comrades.  A  party  of  his  men  crossed 
the  main  from  Sewee  Bay  to  Hobcaw  through  Christ 
Church  parish ;  there  Captain  Fenwicke  attacked  them, 
killed  fourteen  and  took  fifty  prisoners,  while  the  same  day 
Colonel  Rhett  entered  Sewee  Bay  and  the  ship  imme- 
diately surrendered  with  ninety  men  aboard.  Mr.  John 
Barnwell,  a  volunteer,  was  dispatched  by  Colonel  Rhett 
with  news  of  the  capture,  as  the  contrary  winds  prevented 
the  immediate  return  of  the  little  victorious  fleet  with 
their  prize  and  many  captives.  There  were  now  230 
French  and  Spanish  prisoners  in  Charles  Town.  It  is  not 
known  how  many,  if  any,  of  them  died  of  yellow  fever.^ 

The  Governor   thanked  the  citizen   soldiery  who   had 

1  This  account  is  taken  from  Hewatt  and  Rivers.  Ramsay  follows 
verbatim  that  of  Hewatt.  Rivers's  account  is  based  upon  the  more  reli- 
able authority  of  a  report  written  in  Charles  Town  September  13,  1706, 
published  in  the  Boston  News  Letter,  and  republished  in  the  Carolina 
Gazette,  June  2,  1766,  which  paper  is  to  be  found  in  the  files  in  the 
Charleston  Library. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  401 

responded  so  promptly  to  his  call,  under  circumstances  so 
unpropitious,  for  their  valor  and  for  their  humanity,  espe- 
cially at  a  time  when  such  violent  estrangements  existed 
between  political  parties.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Governor 
himself  received  from  the  Proprietors  a  substantial  token 
of  their  approbation  in  a  tract  of  land  granted  in  terms 
most  flattering  and  honorable.  And  well  they  might,  for 
the  funds  for  necessary  expenses  were  raised  by  Governor 
Johnson  on  his  individual  responsibility.^ 

Thus  ended,  says  Rivers,  the  first  attempt  to  take  the 
city  of  Charles  town  by  a  naval  force,  which  failed,  not 
through  the  strength  of  its  fortifications  nor  the  multitude 
of  its  defenders,  but  through  the  courage  and  activity  of 
its  citizens.  Since  Rivers  wrote,  another  and  more  signally 
glorious  defence  of  the  city  has  been  made,  whereupon  a 
recent  English  author  has  written :  "  Three  times  has 
Charlestown  been  attacked  from  the  sea.  Twice  in  the  last 
century,  and  once  in  the  present,  have  the  ever-growing 
resources  of  naval  warfare  been  brought  to  bear  upoh  her 
walls.  Dalgren's  monitors  were  as  powerless  against  her 
mighty  natural  defences  as  the  French  privateers  or  as 
Parker's  men-of-war,  and  the  stronghold  of  slavery  only 
sank  in  the  common  downfall  of  that  cause  of  which  she 
was  the  parent  and  leader.  But  of  the  three  defences  of 
Charlestown  all  marked  by  conspicuous  resolution  on  the 
part  of  the  garrison,  the  first  is  the  only  one  with  which 
Englishmen  can  well  feel  sympathy.  In  each  of  the  latter 
sieges  the  assailants  and  defenders  were  of  the  same  race 
and  speech.  The  settlers  who  held  Charlestown  against 
the  allied  forces  of  France  and  Spain  were  partners  in  the 
glory  of  Stanhope  and  Marlborough,  heirs  to  the  glory  of 
Drake  and  Raleigh."  ^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  214,  note. 

2  Doyle's  English  Colonies  in  Am.,  368. 
2d 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

1704 

Carolina  was  a  part  of  the  British  Empire,  and  a  part 
which,  though  so  distant,  was  drawing  more  and  more 
closely  in  interest  to  the  mother  country.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  colony,  the  colonists  had  been  too  much  en- 
gaged in  clearing  the  grounds  for  their  settlements,  and 
erecting  their  cabins  in  the  woods,  to  take  much  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  old  country.  Busy  in  the  first  attempt 
at  a  settlement  at  Old  Town  on  the  Ashley,  and  their 
minds  continually  occupied  with  apprehensions  of  Indians 
and  "Spaniards,  they  had  not  been  much  concerned  with 
the  occasional  news* which  reached  them  from  England  of 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence  to  the 
Roman  Catholics,  or  the  Test  Act,  by  which  the  reception 
of  the  sacrament,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  renunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  were  made  the  qualifications  for  office.  Nor  after 
their  removal  to  Oyster  Point  had  they  felt  themselves 
much  interested  in  the  Popish  plot,  or  Exclusion  Bill,  or 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  save  inasmuch 
as  these  measures  had  driven  to  the  province  the  non- 
conformists under  Morton  and  Axtell,  and  the  French 
Protestants  under  Petit  and  Grinard.  The  death  of 
Charles  II  and  the  accession  of  James  had  not  disturbed 
them.  Their  political  thoughts  had  been  chiefly  engaged  in 
resisting  the  absurd  Fundamental  Constitutions  of  Locke, 

402 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  403 

which  the  Proprietors  were  endeavoring  to  force  upon 
them,  and  in  extorting  from  their  Lordships  assurance 
of  their  titles  to  land,  and  the  tenures  under  which  they 
were  to  be  held.  But  communication  with  London  and 
Bristol  and  Dublin  was  now  constant,  not  only  through 
the  Proprietors,  but  by  the  mercantile  intercourse,  which 
was  steadily  increasing.  The  province  was  beginning  to 
recognize  itself  as  a  part  of  England,  and  every  pulsation 
of  political  life  there  was  now  felt  in  the  province  without 
diminution,  and  was  acted  upon  with  as  much  zeal  as  at 
home.  Political  sentiment  in  Carolina  at  once  responded, 
therefore,  to  the  revival  of  Toryism  upon  the  accession  of 
Queen  Anne,  —  a  revival  here  which  was  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  appointment  of  the  faithful  old  soldier  and  follower 
of  the  Stuarts,  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  as  Governor  of  the 
province.  During  the  ascendency  of  the  Whigs  under 
William  III,  Smith,  Blake,  and  Archdale,  all  dissenters, 
had  governed  the  colony.  They  had  each  and  all,  it  is 
true,  recognized  the  Church  of  England  as  the  established 
church  of  the  province,  and  Blake  had  been  most  liberal  in 
his  conduct  to  it.  Still  the  colony  had  been,  until  Moore's 
interregnum  administration,  under  the  government  of  dis- 
senters, who,  it  was  claimed,  constituted  a  majority  of  the 
people.  But  now  the  Palatine  and  the  Governor  were 
both  High  Churchmen. 

The  party  of  Blake,  Morton,  and  Axtell,  led,  at  this 
time,  by  Joseph  Boone  and  John  Ash,  claimed  to  be  no 
less  than  two-thirds  of  the  colonists.  But,  as  it  has  been 
observed,  this  we  may  doubt,  as  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  a  minority  could  force  measures  on  a  reluctant  ma- 
jority, even  if  we  suppose,  which  is  in  itself  unlikely, 
that  the  minority  was  completely  united  in  itself.^  The 
mistake  was  in  counting  as  dissented  all  who  were  not 
1  Doyle's  English  Colonies  in  Am.^  370. 


404  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

churchmen.  Thus,  for  instance,  as  we  have  before  said,  the 
French  Huguenots  were  not  dissenters ;  nor  were  the  Ger- 
man Lutherans,  who  were  becoming  quite  numerous  in  the 
colony.  The  sympathies  of  both  of  these  classes  were 
rather  with  the  churchmen  than  with  the  dissenters.  This 
was  recognized  in  the  opposition  of  the  latter  to  extend- 
ing the  elective  franchise  to  any  who  were  not  native- 
born  Englishmen ;  and  was  proved  by  the  readiness  with 
which  the  clergymen  of  both  these  denominations  accepted 
Episcopal  rule  and  connected  themselves  with  the  Church 
of  England. 

As  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  in  Eng- 
land the  principle  of  uniformity  in  Church  as  well  as  in 
State,  which  had  been  Clarendon's  policy  upon  the  restora- 
tion of  Charles  II,  had  been  the  Independents  and  Pres- 
byterians, whose  strongholds  were  the  corporations  of  the 
boroughs,  in  many  of  which  the  corporations  actually 
returned  the  borough  members,  and  in  all  of  which  they 
exercised  a  powerful  influence,  it  became  necessary  to  drive 
the  dissenters  from  municipal  posts,  in  order  to  weaken, 
if  not  to  destroy,  that  party  in  the  House  of  Commons.^ 
To  accomplish  this,  the  famous  Test  and  Corporation  acts, 
passed  by  a  Cavalier  Parliament,  required,  as  a  condition 
of  entering  upon  any  office,  —  civil,  military,  or  municipal, 
—  the  reception  of  the  sacraments,  according  to  the  forms 
of  the  Church  of  England,  a  renunciation  of  the  League 
and  Covenant,  and  a  declaration  that  it  was  unlawful,  on 
any  grounds,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  King.  William's 
attempt  partially  to  admit  dissenters  to  civil  equality 
by  a  repeal  of  these  acts  had  failed ;  but  many  dissen- 
ters had  evaded  their  provisions  by  occasionally  partaking 
of  the  communion  as  required,  though  they  subsequently 
attended  their  own  chapels.  It  was  against  this  "occa- 
1  Green's  Mist.  English  People,  vol.  Ill,  360. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  405 

sional  conformity "  that  the  Tories,  now  once  more  in 
power,  introduced  a  test,  which,  by  excluding  the  non- 
conformists, would  have  given  them  the  command  of  the 
boroughs.  This  test  first  received  the  support  of  Marl- 
borough, then  all-powerful  under  Queen  Anne ;  but  the 
Whigs,  who  had  ruled  under  William,  still  held  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  rejected  it  as  often  as  it  was  sent  up  to 
them.i 

All  the  world,  says  Oldmixon,^  knew  how  zealous  Lord 
Granville  had  been  for  promoting  the  bill  against  "  occa- 
sional conformists  "  in  England,  that  he  had  openly  shown 
his  aversion  to  dissenters,  and  had  been  removed  from 
a  high  position  because  of  the  bitterness  of  his  speeches  in 
regard  to  them.  However  this  may  have  been,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  Lord  Granville  warmly  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  High  Churchmen  in  Carolina,  and  that  it 
was  through  his  influence  that  an  attempt  was  made 
in  this  province  similar  to  that  against  the  "occasional 
conformity "  in  England.  In  England,  however,  it  was 
only  a  part  of  the  representation  in  the  Commons — the 
burgesses  of  the  cities  and  boroughs  —  that  could  be 
reached  by  the  Test  and  Corporation  acts.  The  knights 
of  shires,  the  other  component  part  of  the  Commons, 
could  not  be ;  but  in  Carolina  the  whole  representation 
in  the  Commons  House  was  subject  to  statutes  passed 
in  the  General  Assembly  here,  and  approved  by  the 
Proprietors  in  England.  Lord  Granville,  the  Palatine, 
determined  that,  though  the  Tories  at  home  could  not 
exclude  all  who  were  not  churchmen  from  the  Commons 
in  Parliament,  he  at  least  would  make  the  attempt  to  do 
so  in  Carolina.  In  this  attempt  he  had  the  zealous  co- 
operation of  the  noble,  if  somewhat  bigoted.  Governor, 

1  Green's  Hist.  English  People,  vol.  IV,  87. 
*  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  474. 


406  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson ;  of  the  astute,  if  unprincipled, 
Chief  Justice  Nicholas  Trott ;  and  also  of  Colonel  William 
Rhett,  who,  though  of  choleric  and  violent  disposition, 
appears  to  have  been  sincere  and  earnest  in  his  devotion 
to  his  church. 

The  Assembly,  which  the  Colleton  dissenters  charged 
had  been  so  irregularly  and  scandalously  elected,  had 
chosen  Mr.  Job  Howes  as  Speaker.  They  had  been 
prorogued  to  the  10th  of  May,  and  the  time  of  their 
reassembly  had  not  yet  arrived.  They  were  now  called 
by  the  Governor  in  extra  session,  and  on  the  4th  of  May, 
1704,  Colonel  Risbee  asked  leave  to  introduce  a  bill.  It 
was  read.  Its  title  was :  "#or  the  more  effectual  preserva- 
tion of  the  government  of  this  province  hy  requiring  all 
persons  that  shall  hereafter  he  chosen  members  of  the  Com- 
mons House  of  Assembly^  and  sit  in  the  same  to  take  the 
oaths  and  subscribe  the  declaration  appointed  by  the  act 
and  to  conform  to  the  religious  worship  in  this  province 
according  to  the  Church  of  England^  and  to  receive  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
said  church.^'' 

Some  members  immediately  called  for  the  reading  of 
the  "grand  charter."  But  the  opposition  was  overcome. 
The  bill  was  passed  through  its  first  reading  with  amend- 
ments, and  Colonel  Risbee  was  ordered  to  present  it  to 
the  Governor  and  Council.  They  passed  it,  and  returned 
it  to  the  House.  The  next  day  it  received  its  second 
and  third  readings,  and  was  sent  as  a  law  for  ratifica- 
tion to  the  Governor  and  Council.  It  bears  date  the  6th 
of  May,  and  was  signed  by  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  and 
Colonel  Thomas  Broughton,  Colonel  James  Moore,  Robert 
Gibbes,  Esq.,  Henry  Noble,  Esq.,  and  Nicholas  Trott,  Esq., 
of  the  Council.  It  was  passed  in  the  Assembly  by  a 
majority  of  one,  twelve  voting  for  it  and  eleven  against 


UNDER    THE   PUOPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  407 

it;  among  the  latter  were  some  churchmen.  Seven 
members  were  absent.^ 

The  preamble  to  the  act  declared,  as  the  reason  for 
its  passage,  that  while  nothing  was  more  contrary  to 
the  profession  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  particularly 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  than  perse- 
cution for  conscience  only,  yet  nevertheless  it  had  been 
found  by  experience  that  the  admitting  of  persons  of 
different  persuasions  and  interests  in  matters  of  religion 
to  sit  and  vote  in  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly 
had  often  caused  great  contentions  and  animosities  in 
the  province,  had  very  much  obstructed  the  public  busi- 
ness, and  that  by  the  laws  and  usage  of  England,  all 
members  of  Parliament  were  obliged  to  conform  to  the 
Church  of  England  by  receiving  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  according  to  the  rites  of  the  said  church.  It  was 
doubtless  true  that  the  Colleton  dissenting  members  of  the 
House,  in  order  to  enforce  the  passage  of  an  election  law 
to  exclude  the  Huguenots  from  voting,  had  obstructed  the 
business  of  the  House  at  a  time  when  the  safety  of  the 
province  from  invasion  demanded  the  united  action  of 
every  patriotic  citizen.  And  this  was  done,  it  was  also 
true,  merely  to  secure  their  own  political  ascendency. 
The  provocation  to  the  churchmen  in  Carolina  was 
therefore  great,  even  had  they  not  the  additional  incentive 
of  Granville's  wishes  to  accomplish  the  purpose  as  a  part 
of  the  politics  in  England.  But  it  was  not  true  that  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Parliament  were  obliged  to  conform  to 
the  Church  of  England  by  receiving  the  sacrament.  And 
it  is  extraordinary  that  such  a  statement  should  have  been 
made  with  the  sanction  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  who 
himself  had  been  a  member  of  Parliament. 

There  was  no  law  nor  custom  requiring  a  member  of 
i  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  218. 


408  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Parliament  to  do  so.  The  Test  and  Corporation  acts  af- 
fected the  membership  of  that  body,  but  partially  and  by 
indirection.  Of  the  two  constituent  parts  of  the  House, 
the  knights  of  the  shire  and  the  borough  members,  they 
could  reach  only  one.  The  knights  of  shires,  i.e.  the 
county  member,  who  were,  however,  usually  churchmen, 
were  not  affected  by  them.  They  operated  only  upon  the 
members  of  corporations  as  electors  of  burgesses.  But 
their  effect,  even  as  to  these,  had  been,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, avoided  by  the  custom  of  "  occasional  conformity." 
There  was  no  precedent  at  home,  therefore,  for  the  strin- 
gent measures  by  which  the  churchmen  in  Carolina  were 
outstripping  the  Tories  in  England,  in  their  efforts  to  ex- 
clude the  dissenters  from  participation  in  the  government. 
Based  upon  this  false  premise,  the  act  required  that 
every  person  thereafter  chosen  a  member  of  the  Commons 
House  should  receive  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
according  to  rites  and  usage  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
some  public  church  upon  some  Lord's  Day,  commonly 
called  Sunday ;  and  should  deliver  to  the  Speaker  a  cer- 
tificate of  his  having  done  so  under  the  hand  of  a  minister, 
or  make  proof  by  two  credible  witnesses.  Apart  from 
other  hardships  and  injustice  of  this  requirement  was  this, 
that  there  was  but  one  church  as  yet  outside  of  Charles 
Town,  i.e.  Pompion  Hill  chapel  on  Cooper  River,  so  that  to 
comply  with  the  act  —  if  assented  to  —  would  require 
every  member  elected  to  journey  to  the  town  or  to  Pom- 
pion Hill  on  some  Lord's  Day  for  the  purpose.  But  there 
was  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  this  act  on  the  part  of  some, 
at  least,  of  its  supporters.  Some  of  them,  though  profess- 
ing to  be  members  of  the  church,  were  not  themselves 
communicants.  Indeed,  it  was  charged  that  some  of  them 
were  blasphemei-s  and  hard  livers.  Mr.  Marston,  the  min- 
ister of  St.  Philip's  Church,  who  became  involved  in  the 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  409 

controversy,  declared  that  many  of  the  members  of  the 
Commons  House  that  passed  the  act  were  constant  ab- 
sentees from  the  church  and  that  eleven  of  them  were 
never  known  to  have  received  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  though  for  five  yeai-s  past  he  had  administered 
it  in  his  church  at  least  six  times  a  year.  This  charge  is 
countenanced  by  a  provision  which  would  cover  just  such 
cases.  It  was  provided  that,  as  some  persons  might  scru- 
ple to  receive  the  sacrament  by  reason  of  their  fears  that 
they  were  not  rightly  fitted  and  prepared  to  partake  of 
that  ordinance,  who  did  nevertheless,  out  of  real  choice, 
conform  to  the  Church  of  England  and  sincerely  profess 
the  same,  such  persons  upon  making  oath  to  the  fact,  and 
that  they  usually  frequented  the  church  for  public  wor- 
ship, and  did  not  avoid  the  communion  from  any  dislike 
of  the  manner  or  form  of  its  administration  as  used  by  the 
Church  of  England  and  prescribed  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  and  making  profession  of  conformity  as  required 
by  the  act,  were  declared  sufficiently  qualified  to  be  mem- 
bers of  the  House. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  bill  met  with  vehement  oppo- 
position.  In  the  House  Thomas  Jones,  John  Beamer,  Laur 
Denner,  William  Edwards,  and  John  Stanyarne  entered 
under  leave  their  dissent  in  these  words,  'Hhat  King 
Charles  II  having  granted  a  liberty  in  his  charter  to  the 
people  for  the  settling  of  this  colony,  we  think  the  above 
bill  too  great  an  infringement  on  the  liege  subjects  of  his 
Majesty " ;  Charles  Colleton,  "  that  the  said  bill  is  not 
proper  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony  at  this  time  " ; 
James  Cochran  because  "  contrary  to  the  liberties  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  province,  which  liberty  hath  encouraged 
many  persons  to  transport  themselves  into  the  province." 
In  the  Council  Landgrave  Joseph  Morton  was  denied 
leave  to  enter  his  protest  against  the  act.     There  being 


410  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

no  further  use  for  the  Assembly,  it  was  prorogued  till 
October.! 

Colleton's  objection  was  the  correct  one.  The  act  was 
not  a  proper  one  for  the  colony.  But  an  appeal  to  the 
Royal  charter  would  not  have  helped  the  opponents  of 
the  measure.  That  instrument  did  not  guarantee  the 
right  of  participation  in  the  government  to  persons  of  all 
religious  denominations.  It  provided  that  no  person 
should  be  molested  or  called  in  question  for  any  differences 
of  opinion  or  practice  in  matters  of  religious  concernment, 
who  did  not  actually  disturb  the  peace ;  but  that  did  not 
give  the  right  to  dissenters,  any  more  than  to  Roman 
Catholics,  to  take  part  in  the  government.  The  religious 
liberty  and  freedom  which  the  charter  guaranteed  related 
only  to  the  exercise  of  religion  without  molestation ;  and 
even  in  that  it  was  restricted  to  such  indulgences  and  dis- 
pensations as  the  Proprietors  should  think  fit  to  grant. 
Nor  could  appeal  be  made  to  the  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions, for  the  Church  of  England  was  declared  by  those 
laws  to  be  "the  only  true  and  orthodox  and  the  national 
religion  of  all  the  King's  dominions." 

But  all  the  churchmen  in  the  colony  did  not  approve 
the  measure.  It  met  with  opposition  from  a  quarter  little 
to  have  been  expected,  and  became  involved  in  other  issues. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Marshall,  in  1699,  the  Governor 
and  Council  had  written  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London 
telling  him  of  Mr.  Marshall's  death  ;  of  the  great  virtues 
he  had  exhibited  during  his  short  life  in  the  colony;  how 
that  by  his  easy,  and,  as  it  were,  natural  use  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  church,  he  had  taken  away  all  occasion  of 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  218,  219,  quoting  Journals. 

The  term  "prorogue"  is  used  in  cases  in  which  the  Assembly  is 
adjourned  by  the  Governor  from  time  to  time.  The  term  ".adjourn" 
is  used  in  cases  in  which  the  Assembly  ends  its  session  by  its  own  motion. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  411 

scandal  at  them,  and  by  his  prudent  and  obliging  way  of 
living  and  manner  of  practice  he  had  gained  the  esteem 
of  all  persons ;  and  praying  that  his  Lordship  would  send 
them  such  another.  The  same  encouragement  and  pro- 
vision as  was  made  for  Mr.  Marshall,  they  said,  was  settled 
by  act  of  Assembly  upon  his  successor,  a  minister  of  the 
Church  of  England;  viz.  <£150  yearly,  a  good  brick  house 
and  plantation,  two  negro  slaves,  and  a  stock  of  cattle, 
besides  christening,  marriage,  and  burial  fees.^ 

Before  learning  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Marshall,  the  Pro- 
prietors had  secured  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Edward 
Marston,  M.A.,  for  Pompion  Hill  chapel  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  the  settlements  on  Goose 
Creek  and  Cooper  River.^  Mr.  Marston  had  been  recom- 
mended not  only  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  but  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Upon  his  arrival,  in  1700,  he 
was  put  in  charge  of  St.  Philip's  Church  in  the  place  of 
Mr.  Marshall.  And  the  Rev.  Samuel  Thomas,  the  first 
missionary  sent  out  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel,  designed  for  a  mission  to  the  Yamassee  Indians, 
coming  out  soon  after,  but  the  disturbed  condition  of  the 
country  in  consequence  of  the  Spanish  invasion  and  St. 
Augustine  expedition  rendering  service  among  the  Indians 
impracticable,  Governor  Johnson  had  substituted  him  to 
the  care  of  the  people  upon  the  three  branches  of  Cooper 
River  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Marston ;  his  principal  place  of 
residence  to  be  at  Goose  Creek. 

Unfortunately,  Mr.  Marston  was  of  a  very  different 
character  from  that  ascribed  to  Mr.   Marshall,  whom  he 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  37. 

2  This  was  the  first  Episcopal  or  English  Church  in  the  province  out- 
side of  Charles  Town.  It  was  erected  by  the  parishioners,  with  the  liberal 
assistance  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  on  the  east  branch  of  Cooper  River. 
It  was  built  of  cypress,  thirty  feet  square,  upon  a  small  hill  usually  called 
Pompion  Hill. 


412  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

succeeded.  Though  recommended  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  as  well  as  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  he  had 
been  a  notorious  Jacobite  ere  his  coming  to  the  province, 
and  was  for  a  time  imprisoned  in  England  for  railing  against 
the  government.^  He  brought  over  with  him  the  same 
violent  passions  and  contentious  disposition.  A  Jacobite 
in  England  in  the  reign  of  William,  he  turned  with  equal 
rancor  against  the  churchmen  in  Carolina  under  Queen 
Anne.  He  threw  himself  into  violent  opposition  to  the  act 
which  now  so  excited  all  parties,  and  vehemently  assailed 
from  his  pulpit  not  only  the  measure  itself,  but  all  who  sup- 
ported it.  He  was  thereupon  ordered  by  the  House  to  lay 
the  minutes  of  two  of  his  sermons  before  its  bar.  This  he 
refused  to  do,  and  the  House  addressed  the  Governor  upon 
the  subject  before  its  adjournment.  This  Mr.  Marston  still 
more  resented,  and  in  a  sermon  preached  the  Sunday  before 
the  Assembly  reconvened  in  October,  he  again  attacked 
the  House,  charging  it  with  calumniating  and  abusing  him. 
Again  the  next  Sunday,  that  is,  the  Sunday  after  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Assembly,  he  boldly  declared  that  though  he 
had  been  ordered  to  lay  his  sermons  before  the  House,  he 
did  not  think  himself  obliged  to  do  so,  and  asserted  that 
he  was  in  no  wise  obliged  to  the  government  for  the 
bountiful  revenues  they  had  allowed  him;  that  he  did 
not  think  himself  inferior  to  them  or  obliged  to  give  an 
account  of  his  actions  to  them;  that  though  they  gave 
him  a  maintenance,  he  was  their  superior,  his  authority 
being  from  Christ.  He  compared  the  members  of  the 
House  to  Korah  and  his  rebellious  companions. 
3^  Mr.  Marston  had  meddled  in  another  matter  with  which 
he  had  no  concern.  The  Colleton  members,  who  had 
withdrawn  from  the  House  the  year  before,  had  sent  Mr. 
Ash  to  Europe  to  lay  their  grievances  before  the  Lords 
1  Hist.  Am.  Episcopal  Ch,  (Bishop  Perry),  vol.  I,  376. 


"UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT     413 

Proprietors,  and,  if  necessary,  before  the  Royal  Govern- 
ment itself.  Apprehending  that  if  the  purpose  of  his 
voyage  was  known  he  might  be  in  some  way  detained,  Mr. 
Ash  had  hurried  to  Virginia,  to  sail  thence  instead  of  em- 
barking for  England  from  Charles  Town,  and  there  Land- 
grave Smith  had  addressed  him  letters  reflecting  very 
sharply  upon  the  conduct  of  the  House.  Just  before  the 
adjournment  of  the  Assembly,  Smith  wrote  to  Ash,  June  30, 
1703,  the  House  had  passed  "a  noble  vote"  interpreting 
the  "  Regulating  Bill,"  that  is,  the  law  regulating  elections 
so  that  foreigners,  as  well  as  natural-born  subjects,  should 
have  the  liberty  to  vote  if  they  were  worth  £10  and  had 
been  in  the  province  three  months ;  "  and  honest  Ralph," 
he  said,  "who  loves  slavery  better  than  liberty  moved 
your  Honorable  assembly  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  naturalize 
all  foreigners  next  spring  ...  so  that  unless  we  have  a 
Regulating  Bill  and  some  other  acts  passed  in  England  for 
the  good  government  of  this  country  I  cannot  see  how  we 
can  pretend  to  live  happy  here."  Again,  on  the  25th  of 
July,  Smith  wrote  to  Mr.  Ash:  "Enclosed  you  will  find 
another  copy  of  the  famous  vote  of  our  Assembly  for  fear 
the  same  should  not  come  to  your  hands ;  also  a  copy  of 
their  Act  against  Blasphemy  and  Profaneness  which  they 
always  made  a  great  noise  about,  although  they  are  some 
of  the  most  profanest  in  the  country  themselves ;  yet  you 
know  great  pretenders  to  religion  and  honesty  for  a  colour 
for  their  Roguery."  ^ 

These  lettei's  fell  into  the  hands  of  Governor  Johnson. 
Oldmixon  says  they  were  betrayed  into  his  hands  upon 
the  death  of  Mr.  Ash,  which  occurred  in  England  soon  after 
his  arrival  there.  Governor  Johnson,  on  the  reconvening 
of  the  Assembly  on  the  5th  of  October,  laid  the  letters 
before  the  House,  that  they  might,  he  said,  take  such 
1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist ,  56,  quoting  MSS.  Journals. 


414  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

measures  as  should  make  Mr.  Smith  sensible  of  his  fault 
and  might  deter  all  others  for  the  future  from  committing 
like  offences  against  the  government.  Landgrave  Smith 
attended  the  House  on  the  9th  and  acknowledged  the 
letters,  whereupon  he  was  taken  into  the  custody  of  the 
Messenger. 

This  was  certainly  a  most  arbitrary  and  unwarranted 
proceeding,  appertaining  more  to  the  military  character  of 
Sir  Nathaniel  than  illustrating  his  prudence  and  justice  as 
a  civil  administrator.  Mr.  Smith  had  certainly  the  right 
to  express  his  opinion  of  the  proceedings  of  the  House  in 
a  private  letter  to  his  personal  correspondent,  even  though 
that  person  was  on  a  journey  to  complain  of  the  conduct 
of  the  government  to  the  authorities  in  England.  He 
had  committed  no  contempt  of  the  House  in  doing  so ;  the 
Governor's  conduct  was  not  above  the  criticism  of  the 
humblest  citizen.  But  all  this  was  none  of  Mr.  Marston's 
business  as  a  minister  of  the  church.  He  had  no  more 
right  to  arraign  the  government  from  his  pulpit  than  the 
House  had  to  arrest  Landgrave  Smith  for  opinions  ex- 
pressed in  private  letters.  But,  burning  to  be  prominent 
in  all  affairs,  he  again  preached  at  the  House,  denouncing 
it  as  having  proceeded  illegally  and  arbitrarily  against  Mr. 
Smith;  and  ostentatiously  visited  him  while  in  the  custody 
of  the  officer.  Upon  this  the  House,  which  appears  on  the 
other  hand  to  have  been  ridiculously  sensitive  as  to  its 
dignity  and  unnecessarily  disposed  to  assert  it,  summoned 
Mr.  Marston  to  its  bar.  The  reverend  gentleman  appeared, 
but  continuing  in  his  controversy,  the  Governor,  Council, 
and  House  deprived  him  of  his  salary,  and  in  doing  so, 
thus  addressed  him :  — 

"Now  as  to  your  Office  and  Ecclesiastical  function 
we  do  not  pretend  to  meddle  with  it,  although  by  your 
Carriage  of  late  you  have  deserved  to  be  taken  notice  of, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERKMENT  415 

but  we  leave  those  matters  to  your  Ecclesiastical  Governors 
and  Ordinary  to  proceed  against  you  for  this  House  doth 
not  pretend  to  meddle  with  your  Function.  But  for  your 
imprudent  carriage  and  behaviour  above  recited  it's  the 
Resolution  of  this  House,  and  it's  ordered  that  whereas 
X150  is  to  be  paid  yearly  to  the  Minister  or  Incumbent 
of  Charles  Town  by  the  Public  Receiver  that  you  be 
deprived  of  the  Salary  during  the  pleasure  of  this  House, 
and  that  you  continue  so  deprived  until  such  time  as  by  an 
Order  of  this  House  upon  Amendment  better  Behaviour 
and  Submission  you  be  restored  to  the  same." 

Mr.  Marston  refused  to  hear  this  censure  and  withdrew. 
The  House  from  regard  for  his  profession,  as  it  declared, 
"  did  not  order  him  into  the  custody  of  the  messenger," 
but  directed  him  to  be  served  with  a  copy  of  the  cen- 
sure.^ 

When  the  Assembly  met  in  October,  none  of  those  who 
had  protested  against  the  disqualifying  act  appeared  at 
first  in  their  seats.  Much  time  was  consumed  in  settling 
Mr.  Marston's  case.  Notwithstanding  Mr.  Marston 's  con- 
duct, the  churchmen  proceeded  to  provide  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  religious  worship  in  the  province  according  to 
the  Church  of  England.  This  much  was  undoubtedly  con- 
templated by  the  charter  and  provided  for  in  the  Fundamen- 
tal Constitutions,  which  the  dissenters  were  now  represent- 
ing to  the  Proprietors  to  be  the  accepted  law  of  the  land. 
But  in  the  measures  proposed  a  clause  was  inserted,  di- 
rected, as  Governor  Johnson  subsequently  admitted,  to 
meet  the  case  of  Mr.  Marston,  "  the  pest  of  the  country " 
as  he  termed  him.  Mr.  Mareton  was  undoubtedly  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  the  provision,  but  Oldmixon,  who  so 
vehemently  assails  the  act  as  uncanonical  and  unjust,  in 
his  account  of   the  West  Indies  has  given  the  strongest 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  57,  58. 


416  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

evidence  of  the  necessity  of  some  provision  for  the  super- 
vision of  clergymen  coming  out  to  the  colonies. 

Mr.  Ralph  Izard  — "  honest  Ralph "  of  Landgrave 
Smith's  letter  —  introduced  the  bill.  It  was  entitled  "  An 
act  for  the  establishment  of  religious  worship  in  this  Prov- 
ince according  to  the  Church  of  England^  and  for  the  erect- 
ing churches  for  the  public  worship  of  God^  and  also  for 
the  maintenance  of  ministers  and  the  building  of  convenient 
Houses  for  them.""  ^  The  act  prescribed  that  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  and  administration  of  the  sacrament,  and 
other  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  church,  the  Psalter  or 
Psalms  of  David,  and  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  therein 
contained,  should  be  read  by  every  minister  or  reader  set- 
tled and  established  by  law,  and  that  all  congregations  and 
places  of  worship,  for  the  maintenance  of  whose  ministers 
any  certain  income  or  revenue  was  raised  or  paid  by  law, 
should  be  deemed  settled  and  established  churches. 

Charles  Town  and  the  neck  between  Cooper  and  Ash- 
ley Rivers  were  made  into  a  distinct  parish  by  the  name  of 
the  parish  of  St.  Philip's  in  Charles  Town.  The  church 
in  Charles  Town  (z.e.  that  which  stood  where  St.  Michael's 
now  stands),  and  the  ground  thereunto  adjoining  enclosed 
and  used  for  a  cemetery  or  churchyard,  were  declared  to  be 
the  parish  church  and  churchyard  of  St.  Philip's,  Charles 
Town. 

Berkeley  County  was  divided  into  six  parishes  :  "  one 
in  Charles  Town,  St.  Philip's ;  one  upon  the  southeast  of 
Wan  do  River ;  one  upon  that  neck  of  land  lying  on  the 
northwest  of  Wando  and  southeast  of  Cooper  River ;  one 
on  the  western  branch  of  Cooper  River ;  one  upon  Goose 
Creek ;  and  one  upon  Ashley  River."  Six  churches  were 
to  be  built,  one  in  each  of  the  five  parishes  outside  of 
Charles  Town,  and  one  on  the  south  side  of  Stono  River 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  236 ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  58. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  417 

in  Colleton  County,  which  territory  was  not,  however, 
made  into  a  parish.  Lands  were  to  be  taken  up  from 
the  Lords  Proprietors,  or  purchased  for  glebes  and  recto- 
ries. The  expense  of  building  these  churches,  parsonage 
houses,  etc.,  were  to  be  defrayed  out  of  any  subscriptions 
made  for  that  purpose ;  the  balance  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
public  treasury.  Supervisors  for  building  these  churches 
and  parsonages  were  appointed,  with  power  to  press  bricks, 
or  lime,  and  other  material,  and  to  compel  carpenters, 
joiners,  workmen,  and  laborers  to  work  under  the  same 
provisions  and  penalties  as  were  prescribed  for  building 
the  entrenchments  and  fortifications  of  the  town.  The 
supervisoi-s  had  also  power  to  press  slaves  for  work  upon 
these  buildings.  In  addition  to  the  glebe,  parsonage 
houses,  negroes,  etc.,  which  should  appertain  to  each, 
the  incumbent  of  each  parish  church  was  to  draw  a  salary 
of  £50  per  annum  from  the  public  treasury.  It  was  pro- 
vided that  the  ministers  of  the  several  parishes  should  be 
chosen  by  the  major  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish 
that  were  of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England  and 
conformed  to  the  same,  and  were  either  freeholders  within 
the  parish  or  contributed  to  the  public  taxes.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  clause  providing  for  the  lay  commission,  with 
power  to  remove  or  suspend  incumbents  from  their  bene- 
fices. 

As  we  have  before  intimated,  though  probably  the  ap- 
proximate cause,  Mr.  Marston's  conduct  was  not  the  sole 
inducement  to  the  enactment  of  the  provision.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  colonies 
was  peculiar.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London 
was  generally  acceded  to  in  the  American  colonies,  but 
not  universally ;  no  provision  had  been  made  by  the  civil 
government  or  by  the  Church  of  England  for  the  Episco- 
pal supervision  of  the  clergy  who  came  out  to  America. 

2e 


418  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLIKA 

In  the  early  settlement  of  Virginia,  Bishop  King,  the  then 
Bishop  of  London,  who  had  taken  great  interest  in  that 
colony,  had  in  consequence  been  chosen  a  member  of  the 
King's  Council  for  that  province.  In  this  position  it  was 
but  natural  that  in  all  ecclesiastical  matters  he  should  be 
consulted,  and  there  grew  out  of  his  personal  interest  the 
recognition,  to  some  extent,  of  his  spiritual  jurisdiction.^ 
Beginning  probably  in  this  way.  Episcopal  jurisdiction  of 
the  colonies  was  generally  assumed  by  Bishop  King's  suc- 
cessors, the  Bishops  of  London.  Other  reasons  were  also 
assigned  for  its  support.  Here  it  was  said  to  be  because, 
as  London  was  the  commercial  city  of  England,  by  a 
fiction  the  Bishop  of  London's  jurisdiction  went  with 
London  commerce.  However  originating,  the  Bishop  of 
London's  jurisdiction,  or  at  least  the  right  to  his  especial 
care  and  oversight,  had  hitherto  been  accepted  and  acted 
upon  in  the  colony.  Governor  Blake  and  his  Council,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  acting  upon  it,  had,  upon  the  death  of 
Mr.  Marshall,  immediately  applied  to  Bishop  Compton, 
asking  him  to  send  out  a  successor.  But  this  jurisdiction 
was  elsewhere  questioned.  It  was  disputed  in  Maryland,^ 
and  was  denied  in  the  West  Indies.  In  Jamaica  it  was 
barred  by  the  laws  of  the  colony,  and  the  Governor,  as  the 
supreme  head  of  the  provincial  church,  not  only  inducted 

1  Hist.  Am.  Ch.  (Bishop  Perry),  vol.  I,  74. 

Anderson,  in  his  History  of  the  Colonial  Church,  gives  another  version. 
He  attributes  the  origin  of  the  Bishop  of  London's  jurisdiction  to  a  letter 
from  Archbishop  Laud  to  the  merchants  at  Delph,  and  instructions  to 
Mr.  Beaumont  to  certify  to  the  Bishop  of  London  any  disobedience  of 
the  King's  ordinance  enforcing  the  canons  and  liturgy  of  the  church. 
(Vol.  I,  410).  He  admits,  however,  that  he  cannot  find  any  other  meas- 
ure by  which  Virginia  was  formally  constituted  a  part  of  the  diocese  of 
London  than  Bishop  King's  connection  with  the  King's  Council.  Ibid., 
261. 

2  Maryland,  Am.  Commonwealth  (Brown),  192  ;  Anderson's  Hist,  of 
the  Colonial  Ch.,  vol.  HI,  179. 


>      ^"^^        OF   THE  ^X 

f  UNIVERSITY  I 
UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERKMENT*^^"     it^ 

clergymen  into  their  benefices,  but  was  vested  with  power 
also  of  suspending  a  clergyman  for  lewd  and  disorderly 
life  upon  the  application  of  his  parishioners.^ 

Fortunately  for  the  church  in  South  Carolina,  as  it  hap- 
pened, blessed  with  the  aid  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  in  the  benefits  of  which  she  was  the 
first  of  all  the  colonies  to  participate,  and  by  the  care  of 
her  Governor  and  Council,  her  clergymen  generally  were 
men  of  character  fully  worthy  of  their  high  calling.  Gov- 
ernor Craven  in  1712,  recommending  provision  for  their 
remuneration,  could  truthfully  say:  "We  may  boast  as 
learned  a  clergy  as  any  in  America,  men  unblemished  in 
their  lives  and  principles,  who  live  up  to  the  religion  they 
profess ;  some  of  them  have  been  long  amongst  us  to  whom 
a  particular  regard  is  due ;  always  indefatigable  in  their 
functions,  visiting  the  sick,  fearless  of  distempers  and 
never  neglecting  their  duty,"  etc.^  However  contentious 
and  contumacious  was  Mr.  Marston,  not  even  in  his  case, 
it  must  be  recorded,  was  there  breath  of  suspicion  of  im- 
moral conduct.  But,  unhappily,  such  had  not  been  the 
character  always  of  the  clergymen  of  the  church,  who  had 
been  sent  out  to  America.  They  had  been  often  the  out- 
casts of  the  church  at  home.  Oldmixon  himself,  in  his 
history  of  Jamaica,  has  given,  on  the  authority  of  other 
writers  and  on  his  own  testimony,  a  most  deplorable  ac- 
count of  the  clergy  of  that  island.  They  were  of  vile 
character,  and  with  few  exceptions  the  most  finished  of 
all  debauchees.  They  troubled  themselves  little  about 
the  church,  the  doors  of  which  were  seldom  opened.^  The 
same  complaint,  he  says,  was  general  over  all  the  colonies. 
In  Maryland  "  the  Reprobate  Coode,"  a  blatant  blasphemer 

1  Hist.  West  Indies  (Bryan  Edwards),  vol.  I,  208. 

2  Public  Becords  So.  Ca. 

3  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  II,  374-418. 


420  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

and  drunkard,  was  intriguing  and  disturbing  the  peace  of 
the  Commonwealth,  and  the  good  Dr.  Bray,  the  commis- 
sary of  the  Bishop  of  London,  with  his  disputed  title,  found 
no  easy  task  in  his  efforts  at  the  reformation  of  others.^ 
Though  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London  was  not 
questioned  in  Virginia,  even  there  the  authority  of  his 
Commissary  Blair  was  found  a  very  insufficient  substitute 
for  the  superintendence  of  a  faithful  bishop.^  Men  repre- 
senting themselves  as  clergymen  of  the  church  presented 
themselves  without  letters,  and  there  was  no  means  of  as- 
certaining whether  they  really  had  orders.  The  litigious 
and  erratic  Marston  was  followed  by  a  fugitive  from  Mary- 
land, Richard  Marsden  by  name,  who  claimed  to  be  a  clergy- 
man, and  accounted  for  the  absence  of  his  letters  by  the 
improbable  story  that  they  had  been  blown  overboard  by 
the  wind  at  sea,  when  he  was  drying  them  after  a  storm.^ 
It  was  in  this  condition  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
America,  that  the  Governor  and  Assembly  in  South  Caro- 
lina found  themselves,  while  endeavoring  to  establish  the 
church  in  the  province,  in  actual  contention  with  a  clergy- 
man for  whose  support  they  were  providing,  while  he  was 
in  open  defiance  of  their  authority.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  had  there  been  no  trouble  with  Mr.  Marston,  the  pro- 
vision for  removing  incumbents,  when  necessary,  would 
yet  have  been  made,  as  similar  provisions  then  existed  in 
the  West  Indies.  Mr.  Marston's  conduct  was,  neverthe- 
less, the  immediate  inducement  to  its  adoption.     The  rea- 

1  Maryland,  Am.  Commonwealth,  191. 

^  Virginia,  Am.  Commonwealth  (Cooke),  332;  Old  Churches,  etc.,  of 
Virginia  (Bishop  Meade),  16. 

8  Hist.  Am.  Episcopal  Church  (Bishop  Perry),  vol.  I,  377, 

When  an  English  nobleman,  it  is  said,  asked  a  bishop  why  he  con- 
ferred Holy  Orders  on  such  an  arrant  set  of  blockheads  as  some  of  those 
sent  out  to  our  colonies,  he  replied,  ''Because  it  was  better  to  have  the 
ground  ploughed  by  asses  than  to  leave  it  a  waste  full  of  thistles." 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  421 

son  for  the  provision  is  thus  set  out  in  the  preamble  in  the 
act.i     It  recites:  — 

"  And  whereas  it  may  often  happen  that  a  rector  or  minister  may- 
be chosen  pursuant  to  the  Act  ...  of  whose  qualifications  or  dis- 
positions the  inhabitants  njay  have  but  small  acquaintance  or  may  be 
otherwise  mistaken  in  the  person,  who  may  act  contrary  to  what  was 
expected  of  him  at  his  election  so  that  it  is  highly  necessary  to  have 
a  power  lodged  in  some  persons  for  the  removing  of  all  or  any  of  th^ 
several  rectors  or  ministers  of  the  several  parishes  or  to  translate 
them  from  one  parish  to  another  as  to  them  shall  seem  convenient, 
otherwise  in  case  any  immoral  or  imprudent  clergyman  should  happen 
to  be  appointed  rector  or  minister  of  any  parish  the  people  would  be 
without  any  remedy  against  him,  or  in  case  there  should  arise  such 
incurable  prejudices,  dissentions,  animosities  and  implacable  offences 
between  such  rector  or  minister  and  his  people,  tliat  all  reverence  for 
and  benefit  by  his  ministry  is  utterly  to  be  despaired  of  (although  he 
is  not  guilty  of  more  grosser  or  scandalous  crimes)  yet  it  may  be  very 
convenient  to  have  him  removed  from  being  rector  or  minister  of 
that  parish  to  which  he  did  belong,  and  where  such  dissentions  and 
offences  are  arisen,  otherwise  great  evils  and  inconveniences  may 
ensue  upon  the  same." 

With  this  recital  of  the  occasion  for  the  enactment,  the 
clause  provides :  — 

"...  That  the  commissioners  hereafter  named  or  the  major  part 
of  them  shall  have  power  where  they  think  it  convenient  (upon  the 
request  and  at  the  desire  of  any  nine  parishioners  that  do  conforme  to 
and  are  of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England  and  are  persons  of 
credit  and  reputation,  together  with  the  request  of  the  major  part  of 
the  vestry  of  the  parish,  signified  under  their  hand  and  requesting  the 
removal  of  their  rector  or  minister  of  such  parish)  to  cite  such  minis- 
ter before  them  and  to  hear  the  complaints  against  such  minister  or 
rector  allowing  him  reasonable  time  to  make  his  defence  and  upon 
hearing  of  the  same  if  the  said  commission  or  the  major  part  of  them 
shall  think  it  convenient  to  remove  such  rector  or  minister,  they  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  do  the  same."  2 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  240. 

2  An  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  similar  Board  of  Lay  Commis- 
sioners in  Maryland.     An  act  for  the  purpose  passed  both  Houses  of  the 


422  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Upon  the  passage  of  this  act  it  was  moved  "that  any 
member  may  have  liberty  to  enter  his  dissent  against  a 
vote  or  proceedings  made  in  this  House."  But,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  was  "  Resolved  that  no  member  shall  have  leave 
to  enter  his  dissent. "  It  has  been  objected  that  the  act 
was  in  the  nature  of  an  ex  post  facto  law.^  But  no  action 
was  taken  against  Mr.  Marston,  under  its  provisions,  for 
what  had  occurred  previously  to  its  passage.  On  the  con- 
trary, Dalcho  says,  it  does  not  appear  that  these  proceed- 
ings of  the  General  Assembly  had  much  influence  upon 
Mr.  Marston's  conduct.  He  was  again  arraigned  before 
the  House  of  Commons,  February  5,  1704-1705,  for  having 
spoken  falsely  to  the  prejudice  of  Major  Charles  Colleton, 
a  member,  and  it  was  resolved  that  he  had  been  guilty  of 
high  breach  of  privilege,  and  that  his  assertions  were  false 
and  malicious.  A  motion  was  made,  February  8,  to  bring 
in  a  bill  to  displace  him  "for  his  imprudent  behaviour 
in  general  and  his  reflection  on  the  honour  and  justice  of 
this  House  since  the  last  censure  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly." This  motion  was,  however,  lost,  but  another  vote 
of  censure  passed.  It  was  not  until  the  next  year,  1705, 
that  Mr.  Marston  was  arraigned  before  the  Board  of  Lay 
Commissioners  and  deprived  of  his  living.^ 

The  act  imposing  a  religious  test  was  to  operate  on  the 
members  of  the  Assembly  to  be  chosen;  fortunately,  there 
was  no  such  objectionable  feature  in  another  important 
measure  of  this  time  upon  the  same  subject,  i.e,  "  An  act  to 
regulate  the  manner  of  elections.''^  Until  1696  there  had 
been  no  statutory  provision  regulating  elections,  except 

Provincial  Assembly  in  1708.    Anderson's  Hist,  of  the  Colonial  Ch.,  vol. 
Ill,  180. 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  220. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  62,  63. 

»  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  249. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  423 

those  contained  in  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  which 
had  never  been  in  operation.  During  Ludweli's  adminis- 
tration, an  act  upon  the  subject  had  been  passed ;  but  it 
had  been  disallowed  by  the  Proprietors.^  Elections  had 
been  hitherto  conducted  under  the  directions  of  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Governor,  in  pursuance  of  the  instructions  of 
the  Proprietors.  Thus  we  have  seen  Sothell  admitting  the 
Huguenots  to  vote,  and  Archdale  excluding  them.  Elec- 
tions had,  however,  as  has  appeared,  always  been  conducted 
by  ballot.2  The  act  of  1796  has  not  been  preserved.  We 
onl}?^  know  of  it  from  the  repealing  clause  of  an  act  of 
1704,  which  is  the  first  upon  the  subject  which  has  come 
down  to  us.^  This  was  entitled  ''^An  act  to  regulate  the 
elections  of  members  of  the  Assembly.^''  This  act,  which, 
it  will  be  observed,  was  one  to  regulate  elections  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly,  recognizes  the  use  of  the  ballot  as  the 
manner  of  elections  existing  at  the  time  of  its  passage.  It 
does  not  prescribe  the  use  of  ballots  anew,  but  provides  for 
their  preservation  from  one  day  to  another,  during  the 
continuance  of  the  election.  In  the  clause  directing  the 
sheriff  to  publish  his  precept,  or  writ,  it  is  true,  it  is  pro- 
vided "  and  all  voices  or  votes  given  before  such  publica- 
tions are  hereby  declared  void  and  of  no  force,"  and  in 
that  requiring  the  elections  to  be  held  in  public,  it  is  said 
"  that  no  person  whatsoever,  hereby  qualified  to  vote,  shall, 
being  absent  from  the  place  of  election,  give  his  voice  or 
vote  by  proxys  letter  or  any  other  way  whatsoever,  but  shall 
be  present  in  person,  or  his  voice  to  be  taken  for  none." 

It  is  manifest  that  voice  and  written  vote,  i.e.  ballot,  are 
used  here  synonymously ;  for  one  could  not  send  his  nat- 
ural voice  by  proxy  or  letter,  nor  could  his  voice  be  taken 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  Appendix,  487. 

2  Ante,  p.  198  et  seq. 

8  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  130,  249. 


424  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

for  any  if  absent.  That  the  term  "  voice  "  is  used  in  this 
sense  is  made  still  more  clear  from  the  clause  providing 
that  the  elections  shall  continue  for  two  days,  which  pre- 
scribes that  the  Sheriff  at  "  every  adjournment  shall  seal  up 
in  a  paper  bag  or  box  all  the  votes  given  in  that  day  in  the 
presence  of  and  with  the  seals  of  two  or  more  of  each  con- 
tending party  and  the  same  shall  break  open  at  the  next 
meeting,"  etc.  The  phonograph  had  not  been  conceived 
at  that  time,  and  the  paper  bag  or  box  would  scarcely 
have  retained  during  the  night  and  emitted  the  voices 
when  the  seals  were  broken  open  the  next  morning. 

The  qualifications  prescribed  for  a  voter  were  that  the 
person  must  be  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  own  fifty 
acres  of  land,  or  the  value  of  XIO  in  money,  goods,  chat- 
tels, or  rents,  and  have  resided  in  the  precinct  in  which 
he  offered  to  vote  three  months  before  the  date  of  the 
writs  of  election,  to  which  qualifications  he  was  required 
to  make  oath.  Elections  were  to  continue  for  two  days, 
and  to  be  held  in  public.  Carrying  out  the  analogy  to  the 
House  of  Lords  in  England,  no  Proprietor  or  deputy  of  a 
Proprietor  was  allowed  to  vote.  No  alien  born  out  of  the 
allegiance  of  the  Queen  was  qualified  to  be  a  member  of 
the  House. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
1704-1706 

Mr.  Ash,  who  had  been  hurried  off  by  the  way  of  Vir- 
ginia to  avoid  his  being  detained  by  the  Governor,  had 
arrived  in  England  and  applied  at  once  to  Lord  Granville, 
the  Palatine;  but  finding  that  his  Lordship  was  entirely 
in  the  interest  of  the  church  party  in  Carolina,  and  de- 
spairing of  obtaining  from  that  source  redress  of  the  griev- 
ances of  which  he  had  come  to  complain,  he  drew  up  the 
representation  and  address  of  the  Colleton  members  of  the 
Assembly,  from  which  so  much  has  been  quoted,  and  was 
superintending  the  printing  of  it,  but  died  before  it  was 
completed.!  The  paper,  though  addressed  to  Lord  Gran- 
ville, was  no  doubt  designed  to  reach  higher  authority 
than  the  Proprietoi-s.  Oldmixon  admits  that  Mr.  Ash 
may  have  represented  things  with  too  much  partiality  ;2 
and  Archdale  says  that  he  was  not  a  person  suitably  quali- 
fied for  his  mission,  not  that  he  wanted  wit,  but  temper.^ 

Upon  Mr.  Ash's  death  Mr.  Joseph  Boone  was  sent.  Mr. 
Boone,  upon  his  arrival  in  England,  found  that  he  had  not 
left  behind  him  in  Carolina  the  excitement  and  passions 
engendered  by  the  religious  controversy  which  distracted 
the  province.  He  had,  indeed,  but  come  to  its  source, 
and  found  it  raging   in    England   with   greater   violence 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.^  vol.  I,  482. 

2  Ibid.,  483. 

t     ^  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  112. 
425 


426  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

than  at  home.  It  so  happened  that  contemporaneously 
with  the  passage  of  the  church  act  in  Carolina  (November 
4,  1704),  of  which  he  had  come  to  complain,  the  Tory 
House  of  Commons  in  England  had  been  making  another 
vigorous  effort  to  enact  the  "  Occasional  Conformity  Bill." 
Parliament  had  met  on  October  29,  and  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  efforts  of  the  ministry  to  induce  the  leading 
men  of  the  High  Church  party  to  restrain  their  zeal  till 
they  might  have  an  opportunity  of  gratifying  it  without 
embarrassing  the  public  business,  the  measure  was  at 
once  again  introduced,  and  passed  to  a  second  reading. 
At  this  stage,  well  aware  that  it  would  be  rejected  by 
the  House  of  Lords,  upon  its  own  merits,  as  it  had  been 
twice  already,  it  was  tacked  to  a  tax  bill,  so  that  the  Lords 
would  be  obliged  to  reject  the  tax  bill  as  well  as  the 
Occasional  Conformity  bill,  or  to  pass  the  one  with  the 
other ;  it  being  a  fundamental  principle  that  the  Lords 
could  not  alter  a  money  bill,  but  must  adopt  or  reject  it 
as  it  was  sent  to  them.  Connecting  this  church  matter 
with  a  supply  bill  necessarily  involved  Marlborough's 
operations,  and  it  would,  it  was  said,  give  the  French  King 
almost  as  great  an  advantage  as  Marlborough  had  gained 
over  him  a  few  months  before  at  Blenheim.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  wittily  said  that  the  supplies  were  offered  as  a 
portion  annexed  to  the  church  as  in  a  marriage,  and  they 
did  not  doubt  but  that  the  court  would  exert  itself  to 
secure  its  passage  when  it  was  accompanied  with  two 
millions  as  its  price.  The  bill  passed  the  Commons  on 
the  5th  of  December  after  a  long  debate,  and  was  sent 
to  the  House  of  Lords.  But  the  House  of  Lords  would 
not  be  intimidated ;  on  the  14th  of  December  the  supply 
bill  with  its  tack  was  rejected.^ 

This,  the  first  Parliament  of  Queen  Anne,  was  about  to 
1  Pari.  Hist.,  vol.  VI,  359-368. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  427 

expire  by  the  limitation  of  the  biennial  act.  A  proclama- 
tion was  accordingly  issued  on  April  5,  1705,  for  dissolv- 
ing it,  and  on  the  23d  another  was  published  calling  a 
new  Parliament.  It  was  during  the  excitement  of  the 
election  for  the  new  Commons  that  Mr.  Boone  arrived  in 
England.  Before  we  take  leave  of  this  Parliament,  how- 
ever, it  is  most  interesting  to  observe  that  another  subject 
of  debate  in  Carolina  had  also  been  before  that  body. 
Among  the  bills  which  fell  with  the  session,  though  not 
actually  rejected,  was  one  offered  for  the  naturalization 
of  some  hundred  Frenchmen,  to  which  the  Commons 
added  a  clause  disabling  the  persons  so  naturalized  from 
voting  in  elections  of  Parliament.  This  was  done,  though 
it  was  observed  that  these  people  in  England  gave  in  all 
elections  their  votes  for  those  who  were  most  zealous 
against  France.  The  Commons,  nevertheless,  did  not  be- 
lieve that  they  could  be  so  impartial  to  the  interests  of 
their  native  country  as  to  be  trusted  with  a  share  in  the 
government  of  England.^ 

The  elections  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
was  conducted  with  the  greatest  zeal  on  both  sides.  The 
clergy  took  pains  to  infuse  into  all  minds  the  great  dan- 
gers to  vv^hich  the  church  was  exposed.  The  universities 
were  inflamed  with  the  same  idea,  and  took  all  possible 
means  to  spread  it  over  the  nation.  The  danger  to  the 
Church  of  England  grew  to  be  the  watchword  as  in  an 
army.  Men  were  known  as  they  answered  it.  Books 
were  written  and  distributed  with  great  industry  to  im- 
press upon  all  people  the  apprehension  that  the  church 
was  to  be  given  up,  that  the  bishops  were  betraying  it, 
and  that  the  court  would  sell  it  to  the  dissenters.  A  me- 
morial of  the  Church  of  England,  written  by  some  zealous 
churchman,  was  printed  and  spread  abroad,  setting  forth 
1  Pari.  Hist.,  vol.  VI,  337. 


428  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

her  melancholy  situation  and  distress.  The  dissenters,  on 
the  other  hand,  who  had  formerly  been  much  divided, 
were  now  entirely  united,  and  joined  with  the  Whigs 
everywhere.^  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  excitement  that 
Mr.  Boone  appeared  upon  the  scene  in  the  interests  of  the 
dissenters  of  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Boone  was  a  merchant  trading  with  London,  and 
there  he  induced  the  principal  merchants  in  the  Carolina 
trade  to  join  him  in  a  second  representation  of  the  dis- 
senters' case.  He  also  applied  to  Lord  Granville,  the  Pala- 
tine, to  be  heard  by  the  Proprietors.  But,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  get  a  meeting  of 
that  body  even  in  quiet  times  to  transact  the  ordinary  and 
necessary  business  of  the  colony.  It  was  still  more  dif- 
ficult to  do  so  at  this  time  of  political  turmoil,  especially 
when  the  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to  hear  a  protest 
against  a  measure  which  was  warmly  approved,  if  it  had 
not  been  actually  suggested,  by  the  Palatine  himself.  It 
was  seven  weeks  before  he  could  succeed  in  having  a 
meeting  called.^ 

The  Proprietors  at  this  time  were  :  John  Lord  Granville, 
Palatine ;  William  Lord  Craven  ;  John  Lord  Carteret  (then 
a  minor);  Maurice  Ashley,  representing  his  brother,  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury ;  Sir  John  Colleton ;  Joseph  Blake  (a 
minor)  ;  Nicholas  Trott  of  London,  and  John  Archdale.^ 

When  at  last  a  meeting  was  obtained,  Mr.  Archdale,  we 
are  told,  opposed  the  ratification  of  the  bill  against  the 
dissenters  with  such  solid  reasons  that  it  is  amazing  to 
find  the  Palatine  so  shortly  answering  them.*  Mr.  Arch- 
dale  soon  after  wrote  an  account  of  the  province,  in  which 

1  Pari.  Hist.,  vol.  VI,  442. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  486. 
8  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  115. 

*  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  486. 


tJNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  429 

he  treats  mainly  of  this  controversy ;  but  his  style  is  so 
loose  and  rambling  that  it  is  difficult  to  extract  from  it  the 
reasons,  solid  or  otherwise,  he  urged  upon  the  occasion.^ 
But  whatever  they  were,  Lord  Granville  replied  to  him 
very  curtly :  "  Sir,  you  are  of  one  opinion,  I  am  of  another, 
and  our  lives  may  not  be  long  enough  to  end  the  con- 
troversy. I  am  for  the  bill,  and  this  is  the  party  I  will 
hear  and  countenance."  Mr.  Boone  then  asked  that  he 
might  be  heard  by  counsel.  To  this  Lord  Granville 
replied :  "  What  business  has  counsel  here  ?  It  is  a  pruden- 
tial act  in  me,  and  I  will  do  as  I  see  fit.  I  see  no  harm  at 
all  in  this  bill  and  I  am  resolved  to  pass  it."  ^ 

The  acts  were  approved  by  Lord  Granville  for  himself, 
and  for  the  minor  Lord  John  Carteret,  Lord  William 
Ci-aven,  and  Sir  John  Colleton.  Joseph  Blake  was  a  minor 
in  Carolina.  It  is  not  known  what  part  Maurice  Ashley  or 
Nicholas  Trott  of  London  took  in  the  discussion  ;  or  even 
that  they  were  present.  The  Proprietoi-s,  approving  the 
acts,  wrote  to  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  :  "  Sir  the  great  and 
pious  work  which  you  have  gone  through,  with  such 
unwearied  and  steady  zeal,  for  the  honor  and  worship  of 
Almighty  God,  we  have  also  finally  perfected  on  our  part ; 
and  our  ratification  of  that  act  for  erecting  churches,  &ct 
together  with  duplicates  of  all  other  dispatches,  we  have 
forwarded  to  you  "  etc.^ 

The  Tories  in  England  had  outwitted  themselves  and 
overstrained  their  power  in  their  futile  efforts  to  tack  the 
measure  against  the  "  occasional  conformity  "  of  the  dis- 
senters upon  the  supply  bill.  Devoted  to  the  church  as 
were  the  people  generally,  they  were  at  this  time  pecul- 
iarly jealous  of  the  honor  of  the  country,  and  zealous  in 

1  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  114. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  481. 

3  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  170. 


430  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  support  of  the  war.  They  resented  the  spirit  which 
would  have  dimmed  the  lustre  of  Blenheim  in  order  merely 
to  maintain  power.  The  odium  of  indifference  to  the 
glories  of  Marlborough  and  the  army  in  Germany  was  too 
heavy  a  burden  for  the  Tories  to  bear.  The  result  of  the 
election  was  a  large  majority  in  favor  of  the  war,  and  a 
coalition  between  the  moderate  men  of  both  parties.  The 
High  Church  party  had  lost  its  power;  but  the  people 
were  still  sensitive  upon  the  subject  of  the  safety  of  the 
church.  The  danger  of  the  church  was  the  subject  of  a 
great  debate  in  both  Houses  of  the  new  Parliament  and 
of  a  proclamation  by  the  Queen.  It  was  resolved  by  the 
House  of  Lords  that  the  church  was  in  no  danger,  and  so 
her  Majesty  proclaimed,  but  among  the  dissentients  to 
the  resolution  was  Dr.  Compton,  Bishop  of  London ;  and 
one  of  the  dangers  his  Lordship  declared  was  "the 
want  of  a  law  to  prevent  any  person  whatsoever  from 
holding  offices  of  trust  and  authority  both  in  church  and 
state  who  are  not  constantly  of  the  communion  of  the 
church  established  by  law."  ^ 

In  this  condition  of  public  opinion  in  England,  Mr. 
Boone,  the  representative  of  the  dissenters,  himself  a  rigid 
one,  not  content  with  the  cause  of  his  own  people,  assumed 
also  the  championship  of  the  church  in  Carolina,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Mr.  Marston,  as  against  that  of  the  Governor, 
Council,  and  Commons  of  South  Carolina.  Early  in  1706, 
he  presented  a  memorial  in  behalf  of  himself  and  many 
other  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Carolina,  and  also  of 
several  merchants  of  London  trading  to  Carolina,  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  which  was  still  the  stronghold  of  the 
Whigs.2     The  memorial  set  forth :  — 


1  Pari.  Hist.,  vol.  VI,  479-507. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  04  ;  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  637. 


tJNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  431 

"  That  when  the  Province  of  Carolina  was  granted  to  the  Proprie- 
tors, for  the  better  peopling  of  it,  express  provision  was  made  in  the 
charter  for  a  toleration  and  indulgence  of  all  christians  in  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion ;  that  in  the  Fundamental  Constitutions 
agreed  to  be  the  form  of  government  by  the  Proprietors,  there  was 
also  express  provision  made,  that  no  person  should  be  disturbed  for 
any  speculative  opinion  in  religion,  and  that  no  person  should  on 
account  of  religion  be  excluded  from  being  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly  or  from  any  other  office  in  the  civil  administration.  That 
the  said  charter  being  given  soon  after  the  happy  restoration  of  King 
Charles  II  and  reestablishment  of  the  Church  of  England  by  the 
Act  of  Uniformity,  many  of  the  subjects  of  the  Kingdom  who  were  so 
unhappy  as  to  have  some  scruples  about  conforming  to  the  rites  of 
the  said  Church,  did  transplant  themselves  and  families  into  Carolina; 
by  means  whereof  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  there,  were 
Protestant  Dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England,  and  through  the 
equality  and  freedom  of  the  said  Fundamental  Constitutions,  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  colony  lived  in  peace,  and  even  the  Ministers  of 
the  Church  of  England  had  support  from  the  Protestant  Dissenters,  and 
the  number  of  inhabitants  and  the  trade  of  the  colony  daily  increased 
to  the  great  improvement  of  her  Majesty's  customs,  and  the  manifest 
advantage  of  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  kingdom. 

"But  that  in  the  year  1703  when  a  new  Assembly  was  to  be 
chosen,  which  by  the  constitution,  is  chosen  once  in  two  years,  the 
election  was  managed  with  very  great  partiality  and  injustice,  and  all 
sorts  of  people,  even  aliens,  Jews,  servants  common  sailors  and 
negroes  were  admitted  to  vote  at  elections ;  That  in  the  said  Assem- 
bly an  act  was  passed  to  incapacitate  every  person  from  being  a  mem- 
ber of  any  General  Assembly  that  should  be  chosen  for  the  time  to 
come,  unless  he  had  taken  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  accord- 
ing to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England ;  whereby  all  Protestant 
Dissenters  are  made  incapable  of  being  in  the  said  Assembly;  and 
yet  by  the  same  act  all  persons  who  shall  take  an  Oath  that  they  have 
not  received  the  sacrament  in  any  Dissenting  Congregation  for  one 
year  past,  though  they  have  not  received  it  in  the  Church  of  England, 
are  made  capable  of  sitting  in  the  said  Assembly ;  That  this  act  was 
passed  in  an  illegal  manner,  by  the  Governor  calling  the  Assembly  to 
meet  on  the  25th  of  April,  when  it  then  stood  prorogued  to  the  10th 
of  May  following :  That  it  hath  been  ratified  by  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors in  England  who  refused  to  hear  what  could  be  offered  against  it, 
and  contrary  to  the  petition  of  170  of  the  chief  inhabitants  of  the 


43^  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Colony,  and  of  several  eminent  merchants  trading  hither,  though  the 
Commons  of  the  same  Assembly  quickly  after  passed  another  bill  to 
repeal  it,  which  the  upper  House  rejected ;  and  the  Governor  dissolved 
the  House. 

"  That  the  Ecclesiastical  government  of  the  colony  is  under  the 
Bishop  of  London ;  but  the  Governor  and  his  adherents  have  at  last 
done  what  the  latter  often  threatened  to  do,  totally  abolished  it :  for  the 
same  Assembly  have  passed  an  act  whereby  twenty  lay  persons  therein 
named  are  made  a  corporation  for  the  exercise  of  several  exorbitant 
powers  to  the  great  injury  and  oppression  of  the  people  in  general 
and  for  the  exercise  of  all  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  with  absolute 
power  to  deprive  any  Minister  of  the  Church  of  England  of  his  bene- 
fice, not  only  for  immorality,  but  even  for  imprudence  or  incurable 
prejudices  between  such  minister  and  his  parish;  and  the  only  Minis- 
ter of  the  church  established  in  the  Colony,  Mr.  Edward  Marston, 
hath  already  been  cited  before  their  Board,  which  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province  take  to  be  an  high  ecclesiastical  commission-court  de- 
structive to  the  very  being  and  essence  of  the  church  of  England,  and 
to  be  held  in  the  utmost  detestation  and  abhorrence  by  every  man 
that  is  not  an  enemy  to  our  constitution  in  Church  and  State. 
.  "  That  the  said  grievances  daily  increasing  your  petitioner  Joseph 
Boone  is  now  sent  by  many  principal  inhabitants  and  traders  of  the 
Colony,  to  represent  the  languishing  and  dangerous  situation  of  it  to 
the  Lords  Proprietors ;  but  his  application  to  them  has  hitherto  had 
no  effect :  That  the  ruin  of  the  colony  would  be  to  the  great  disad- 
vantage of  the  trade  of  the  kingdom,  to  the  apparent  prejudice  of  her 
Majesty's  customs,  and  the  great  benefit  of  the  French  who  watch 
all  opportunities  to  improve  their  own  settlements  in  those  parts  of 
America." 

None  can  be  found  at  this  day  to  approve  the  sacramen- 
tal test  proposed  in  Carolina  for  the  qualification  of  elec- 
tors, or  the  attempted  prohibition  of  occasional  conformity 
in  England.  But  this  memorial  is  certainly  a  curious  docu- 
ment to  have  been  presented  by  a  Puritan,  a  Roundhead, 
and  follower  of  the  Blakes,  in  behalf  of  those  who  had 
left  England  because  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  church  there.  If  Mr.  Boone  and  those  whom 
he  represented  could  truthfully  invoke  "the  happy  res- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  438 

toration  of  King  Charles  II,"  and  express  their  satisfaction 
"  at  the  re  establishment  of  the  Church,"  why  had  they  left 
England  because  of  "  their  scruples  about  conforming  to 
its  rites"?  Did  they  really  rejoice  at  the  overthrow  of 
the  Commonwealth  and  the  restoration  of  the  Royal 
family  ?  Could  they  candidly  appeal  to  the  equality  and 
freedom  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  which  ex- 
plicitly established  the  church  ?  It  was  not  true  that  the 
charter  prescribed  a  toleration  and  indulgence  of  all 
Christians.  What  it  did,  as  already  pointed  out,  was  to 
give  authority  to  the  Proprietoi-s  to  grant  such  indul- 
gences and  dispensations  as  in  their  judgment  were  fit  and 
reasonable.  To  such  persons  as  the  Proprietors  should 
thus  indulge,  leave  was  given  freely  and  quietly  to  en- 
joy their  consciences  in  mattei's  of  religion,  "  they  behav- 
ing themselves  peacefully  and  not  using  their  liberty  to 
licentiousness  or  to  the  disturbance  of  others."  ^  But  this 
indulgence  which  the  Proprietors  were  authorized  to  allow 
did  not  by  any  means  necessarily  carry  with  it  the  right 
to  vote  at  elections  or  pai-ticipate  in  the  government. 
The  elective  franchise  was  not  then,  nor  indeed  is  it  to- 
day, regarded  in  England  as  an  inherent  right  of  citizen- 
ship, necessarily  accompanying  liberty  of  conscience  in 
religious  matters. 

But  still  more  singular  is  it  that  Mr.  Boone  and  his  co- 
petitioners  —  dissentei-s  all  —  should  have  assumed  the 
defence  of  the  church  as  well  as  the  carriage  of  their 
own  burdens  of  discontent,  and  have  undertaken  to  main- 
tain the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London 
over  the  colonies  in  America,  and  to  resent  the  incorpora- 
tion of  the  Lay  Board  and  its  powers.  This  last,  indeed, 
is  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  strange  features  of  the 
paper,  considering  its  source.     Mr.  Boone  and  his  people 

1  Ante,  Chap.  III. 
2f 


434  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

in  Carolina  were  Congregationalists,  or  Independents,  the 
very  essence  of  whose  doctrine  was  the  repudiation  "of 
the  authority  of  pope,  prelate,  presbytery,  prince,  or  Par- 
liament," and  antagonism  to  the  Episcopal  authority  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Surely,  it  might  have  been  sup- 
posed that  such  religionists  would  have  hailed  the  asser- 
tion of  the  authority  of  the  laity  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  Carolina  to  free  themselves  from  unworthy  or  unfit 
clergymen  as  a  vindication  to  that  extent  of  their  own 
church  polity,  —  from  whence,  indeed,  it  was  doubtless 
derived.  But,  on  the  contrary,  we  find  this  document 
resenting  the  interference  of  the  laity  with  Episcopal 
authority,  and  declaring  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  prov- 
ince, including,  of  course,  the  Independents  themselves, 
take  this  board  "  to  be  an  high  ecclesiastical  commission- 
court  destructive  to  the  very  being  and  essence  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  to  be  held  in  the  utmost  detesta- 
tion and  abhorrence  by  every  man,  that  is  not  an  enemy 
to  our  constitution  in  Church  and  State." 

The  insincerity  of  the  memorialists  is  obvious.  It  was 
quite  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  churchmen,  who,  while 
prescribing  that  no  dissenter  should  vote  who  did  not 
submit  himself  to  conformity  with  the  church,  evidenced 
by  communing  at  its  altars,  provided  a  saving  clause, 
exempting  themselves  from  a  compliance  with  their  own 
requirements.  In  the  one  case,  as  in  the  other,  religion 
was  made  the  stalking-horse  of  political  power. 

But  the  Whig  House  of  Lords,  to  which  Mr.  Boone 
now  appealed,  self-righteously  indignant  at  the  attempt 
of  the  churchmen  in  Carolina  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  Tories  in  England  to  weaken  their  influence  by 
excluding  nonconformists  from  the  voting  power,  over- 
looked the  incongruity  of  the  petitioners  and  their  peti- 
tion, and  hastened  at  the  close  of  the  session,  which  the 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  435 

establishment  of  the  union  with  Scotland  now  rendered 
necessary,  to  espouse  their  cause.  On  the  12th  of  March, 
1706,  their  Lordships  voted  an  address  to  the  Queen  upon 
the  subject.     In  this  address  it  is  declared :  ^  — 

First,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  House  that  the  act 
of  the  Assembly  of  Carolina,  for  the  establishment  of 
religious  worship,  "  so  far  forth  as  the  same  relates  to  the 
establishment  of  a  Commission  for  the  displacing  of  Rec- 
tors or  Ministers  of  the  Churches  there,  is  not  warranted 
by  the  Charter  granted  to  the  Proprietors  of  that  Colony, 
as  being  not  consonant  to  Reason,  repugnant  to  the  Laws 
of  this  Realm,  and  destructive  to  the  constitution  of 
the  Church  of  England." 

Secondly,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  House  that 
the  act  requiring  all  persons  chosen  member  of  the  Com- 
mons House  of  Assembly  to  conform  to  the  religious  wor- 
ship of  the  province,  and  to  receive  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of 
England  "is  founded  upon  falsity  in  matter  of  fact,  is 
repugnant  to  the  Laws  of  England,  contrary  to  the  Charter 
granted  by  the  Proprietors  of  that  Colony,  is  an  encourage- 
ment to  Atheism  and  Irreligion,  destructive  to  trade,  and 
tends  to  the  depopulating  and  ruining  of  the  Province." 

Whereupon  their  Lordships  prayed  her  Majesty  to  de- 
liver the  province  from  the  arbitrary  oppressions  under 
which  it  now  lies;  and  to  order  the  author  to  be  prose- 
cuted according  to  law.  They  also  represented  to  her 
Majesty  how  much  the  powers  given  by  the  Crown  have 
been  abused  by  some  of  her  subjects ;  but  justice  required 
them,  they  said,  to  inform  her  Majesty  that  some  of  the 
Proprietors  had  refused  to  join  in  the  ratification  of  these 
acts.  They  also  informed  her  Majesty  that  other  great 
injustices  and  oppressions  were  complained  of  which  it  was 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  Xo.  Ca. ,  vol.  I,  634  ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  HisL^  66. 


436  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

not  possible  for  the  House,  so  near  the  conclusion  of  the 
session,  to  find  time  to  examine,  and  therefore  presumed 
to  lay  the  petition  itself  before  her ;  and  could  not  doubt 
but  that  her  Majesty,  who  had  shown  so  great  a  concern 
and  tenderness  for  all  her  subjects,  would  extend  her 
compassion  to  her  distressed  people  who  had  the  misfort- 
une to  be  at  so  great  a  distance  from  her  Royal  person, 
and  not  so  immediately  under  her  gentle  administration. 

The  Queen  thanked  the  House  for  laying  these  matters 
so  plainly  before  her,  expressed  herself  as  very  sensible 
of  the  great  consequence  the  plantations  were  to  England, 
and  promised  that  she  would  do  all  in  her  power  to  relieve 
her  subjects  in  Carolina  and  protect  their  rights. 

On  the  3d  of  April  Sir  Charles  Hedges,  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  a  favorite  of  the  Queen,  whom  the 
Duchess  of  Marlborough  was  now  pushing  out  of  the  way 
for  her  son-in-law  Sunderland,  wrote  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  referring  the  address  of  the  Lords  to  that  body, 
and  desiring  its  opinion  as  to  the  method  proper  to  be 
taken  for  the  relief  of  her  Majesty's  subjects.  The  board, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  ever  on  the  alert  to  find 
some  cause  for  the  forfeitures  of  colonial  charters,  readily 
undertook  the  business  and  referred  the  papers  to  the 
two  law  officers  of  the  Crown,  the  Attorney  General,  Sir 
Edward  Northey,  and  the  Solicitor  General,  Sir  Simon 
Harcourt,  for  their  opinion.^  These  law  officers,  on  the  17tli 
of  May,  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  acts  in  question, 
not  being  consonant  to  reason,  and  being  repugnant  to 
the  laws  of  England,  were   not  warranted  by  the   char- 

1  Lord  Campbell,  writing  of  the  changes  in  the  cabinet  upon  the  result 
of  the  election  of  1705,  says:  "Northey  the  Attorney  General  was  con- 
sidered quite  unequal  to  the  post  even  if  there  had  been  no  objection  to 
his  politics.  .  .  .  Harcourt  the  Solicitor  General  was  a  man  of  great  tal- 
ents and  of  high  honor."  —  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors^  vol.  V,  166. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  437 

ter  and  were  made  without  sufficient  authority  from  the 
Crown,  and  therefore  did  not  bind  the  inhabitants  of  the 
colony;  that  her  Majesty  might  therefore  lawfully  declare 
those  laws  null  and  void  and  require  the  Proprietors  and 
Assembly  of  the  province  to  abrogate  them.  They  were 
further  of  the  opinion  that  the  making  of  such  a  law  was 
an  abuse  of  the  power  granted  the  Proprietors  and  effected 
a  forfeiture.  They  were  of  opinion  that  her  Majesty 
might  proceed  by  scire  facias  in  chancery  on  the  pat- 
ents, or  by  quo  warranto  in  the  Queen's  Bench,  "if,"  they 
were  careful  to  add,  "the  laws  were  approved  and  confirmed 
by  the  present  proprietors,  which  doth  not  fully  appear  to 
have  been  so  by  the  said  address."  This,  as  we  shall  see, 
proved  to  be  an  embarrassing  point.  On  the  10th  of  June 
her  Majesty,  in  council,  directed  Mr.  Attorney  and  Mr. 
Solicitor  General  to  inform  themselves  more  fully  upon 
what  was  necessary  for  the  effectual  proceeding  against 
the  charter  by  quo  warranto.  On  the  13th  an  order  of 
council  was  made  directing  the  Lords  Proprietors  to  de- 
clare the  objectionable  acts  null  and  void. 

So  far  all  had  gone  well  with  the  petitioners,  and  the 
Board  of  Trade  had  reason  to  hope  that  the  charters 
against  which  they  had  so  long  and  so  earnestly  been 
contending  would  now  be  annulled.  But  just  here  two 
curious  obstacles  appeared  to  save  the  Proprietors'  rights. 
The  first  was  intimated  by  the  law  officei-s  in  the  closing 
sentence  of  their  opinion.  It  so  happened  that  the  acts 
had  been  nominally  approved  by  but  four  of  the  Proprie- 
tors, of  whom  one,  indeed,  was  a  minor.  These  were  Tories. 
Of  the  other  Proprietors  Archdale  had  protested  against 
the  laws.  Shaftesbury  was  in  ill  health  and  in  retirement, 
and  neither  his  brother  Maurice  Ashley,  who  represented 
him,  nor  Blake,  who  was  a  minor,  had  had  any  part  in  the 
enactment  of  these  measures.    Were  these  innocent  parties, 


438  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

some  of  whom  were  Whigs,  to  be  punished  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  Tory  Lords  Granville  and  Craven  and  Sir  John 
Colleton?  Were  the  minors  Carteret  and  Blake  and  the 
invalid  Shaftesbury  to  suffer  for  the  conduct  of  others  in 
which  they  had  no  part?  But  not  only  so:  as  the  law 
officers,  under  the  orders  of  her  Majesty  in  council,  looked 
into  the  matter  more  fully,  they  began  to  doubt  whether 
they  could  deal  with  the  only  parties  who  were  responsi- 
ble for  the  objectionable  measures ;  for  these  were  peers 
of  the  realm,  and  though  the  Whig  House  of  Lords  had 
in  the  rush  of  business  at  the  close  of  a  session  let  the 
address  to  her  Majesty  pass,  it  might  possibly  not  be  safe 
to  take  them  too  seriously  at  their  word,  and  to  do  a  thing 
which  might  affect  the  privileges  of  their  order. 

Under  the  order  of  the  10th  of  June,  the  Attorney  and 
Solicitor  Generals  reported  to  a  Council  held  on  the  26th 
that,  though  they  had  not  sufficient  material  to  carry  on 
the  prosecution  to  an  end,  they  had  sufficient  to  exhibit 
informations,  and  were  preparing  the  same ;  but  at  the 
same  time  they  suggested  to  the  Council  whether  the  fil- 
ing such  informations  against  a  peer  in  Parliament  might 
not  be  thought  a  breach  of  the  privileges  of  the  peerage. 
This  view  struck  the  Council,  and  her  Majesty  having 
taken  it  into  consideration,  the  Council  quickly  changed 
their  course  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  House 
of  Peers  were  the  best  judges  of  their  own  privileges ; 
upon  which  her  Majesty  did  not  think  fit  to  give  any 
further  directions,  and  the  whole  matter  was  dropped.^ 

Upon  the  passage  of  the  Church  act  establishing  the 
five  new  parishes.  Governor  Johnson  and  his  Council  had 
empowered  Mr.  Thomas,  who  was  returning  to  England 
on  private  affairs,  "to  make  choice  of  five  such  persons 
as  he  should  think  fit,  learned,  pious,  and  laborious  minis- 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Cu.,  vol.  I,  640,  644  ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  69. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  439 

ters  of  the  church  to  officiate  in  the  vacant  parishes."  In 
doing  this  Mr.  Thomas  consulted  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  submitted  what  the  so- 
ciety pronounced  to  be  "a  very  full  and  satisfactory  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  the  church  in  South  Carolina." 
But  he  drew  attention  to  the  objectionable  clause  of  the 
act  establishing  the  church  which  placed  in  the  hands  of 
lay  commissioners  the  power  of  removing  the  clergy. 
The  society  referred  the  matter  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  determined  to 
"put  a  stop  to  the  sending  ministers  .  .  .  into  those  parts 
till  .  .  .  fully  satisfied  that  the  .  .  .  clauses  are  or  shall 
be  rescinded,  and  that  the  matter  put  into  an  ecclesiastical 
method."  When,  however,  afterward  Governor  Johnson 
and  his  Council  explained  that  the  provision  had  been 
"  made  to  get  rid  of  the  incendiaries,  and  pest  of  the 
church,  Mr.  Marston,"  and  that  had  the  society  known 
the  facts  of  the  case,  it  would  not  have  blamed  them  "  for 
taking  that  or  any  other  way  to  get  rid  of  him,"  and  that 
Mr.  Boone,  who  in  this  matter  was  apparently  so  zealously 
championing  the  cause  of  the  church,  was  "  a  most  rigid 
dissenter,"  who,  while  pretending  to  defend  the  rights  of 
the  clergy,  was  really  endeavoring  to  defeat  the  act, 
"because  it  established  the  church  .  .  .  and  settled  a 
maintenance  on  the  ministers,"  they  were  evidently  satis- 
fied ;  for  they  sent  back  with  Mr.  Thomas,  in  1705,  Mr. 
Thomas  Hasell  in  the  same  year,  and  Mr.  Francis  Le 
Jau  in  1706,  before  the  act  was  repealed.^ 

Of  these  measures,  which  caused  so  much  contention 
and  discussion  both  at  home  and  in  England,  the  first, 
that  requiring  conformity  with  the  Church  of  England 
on  the  part  of  the  electors  of  the  Commons,  was  a  measure 
originating  in  the  politics  of  the  mother  country,  but  readily 

1  Digest  Soc.  Prop.  Gospel  Records,  13,  14,  849 ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist,  69. 


440  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

adopted  by  the  churchmen  in  Carolina,  to  wrest  and  secure 
the  control  of  the  province  from  the  dissenters.  During  the 
last  fifteen  years  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  the  dissenters 
had  been  a  majority  in  the  colony,  and  were  the  richest 
and  soberest  amongst  them.  From  the  arrival  of  Blake, 
Morton,  Axtell,  and  their  followers  they  had  governed  the 
colony ;  and  it  was  with  chagrin  that  they  saw  the  new 
arrivals  from  England  and  the  West  Indies  joining  with  the 
Huguenots  to  supersede  their  rule.  Hence  the  bitter  oppo- 
sition to  these  people,  whom,  though  like  themselves  exiles 
for  religion's  sake,  they  were  contumeliously  classing  with 
negroes  and  the  lowest  of  the  whites.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  the  dissenters  now  constituted  two-thirds  of 
the  population  as  asserted  by  Mr.  Marston.^  On  the 
contrary,  as  we  have  seen,  those  who  conformed  to  the 
Church  of  England  constituted  very  nearly  one-half  of 
the  population ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  all  the 
non-conformists  were  united,  differing  as  they  did  amongst 
each  other.  The  very  vehemence  of  their  opposition 
to  the  French  Protestants  is  a  persuasive  argument  that 
they  recognized  that  the  pending  union  between  the 
churchmen  and  Huguenots  would  constitute  a  governing 
majority  of  the  colony. 

The  attempt  of  the  churchmen  to  secure  their  supremacy 
by  the  exclusion  of  the  dissenters,  under  the  test  of  con- 
formity to  the  church,  was  unwise,  impolitic,  and  improper. 
But  in  the  end  it  proved  to  be  a  matter  of  political  ethics, 
not  of  constitutional  right.  The  weak  opinion  of  the 
Attorney  General  and  Solicitor  General  clearly  exhibits 
this.  They  rest  their  objection  to  the  measure  upon  the 
clause  of  the  charter  requiring  the  laws  of  the  province 
to  be  as  near  as  may  be  to  those  of  England,  —  an  elastic 
provision,  capable  of  indefinite  contraction  or  expansion 
1  British  Empire  in  Am.^  vol.  I,  486. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  441 

as  the  purposes  of  party  might  require.  They  find  that  the 
provision  of  the  law  of  Carolina,  accomplishing  the  purpose 
in  this  province, — the  same  that  the  Commons  had  again  and 
again  attempted  at  home,  to  be  so  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
England  as  to  be  in  violation  of  the  provision  of  the  charter. 
And  yet,  at  this  very  time.  Chief  Justice  Holt,  while  hold- 
ing that  slavery  was  so  abhorrent  to  the  laws  of  England 
that  every  slave  was  made  free  upon  touching  her  soil, 
was  upholding  the  slave  trade  in  the  interests  of  the  mer- 
chants of  London,  and  declaring  negro  slaves  merchandise 
under  the  navigation  acts,  and  salable  and  recoverable 
property  in  the  colonies.^  If  Attorney  General  Northey 
and  Solicitor  General  Harcourt  were  right,  that  the  adop- 
tion by  a  colony  of  a  measure  which  had  been  over- 
whelmingly and  repeatedly  approved  by  the  Commons  in 
Parliament  was  such  a  departure  from  the  law  of  Eng- 
land as  to  be  a  violation  of  its  charter,  what  was  to  be  said 
of  the  courts  of  England,  then  and  afterwards,  upholding, 
in  regard  to  slavery,  one  law  for  the  colonies  and  another 
for  the  mother  country?  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
law  officers  of  the  Crown  began  to  perceive  some  of  these 
difficulties,  and  were  glad  to  abandon  the  controversy 
under  the  plea  of  the  privilege  of  the  peers. 

The  other  measure  was  more  of  a  local  one,  —  one  fully 
justified  by  the  condition  of  the  church  in  the  colonies; 
nor  was  it,  as  declared  by  the  address  of  the  Lords  in 
extravagant  language,  in  violation  of  the  constitution  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Deprivation  and  degradation  are 
two  very  different  matters  in  all  ecclesiastical  laws.  The 
latter  can  only  be  imposed  by  an  ecclesiastical  court.  The 
former  must  depend  upon  the  law  of  the  benefice  or  "  liv- 
ing," as  a  matter  of  property.  The  lay  commission  had 
no  power  to  suspend,  deprive,  or  depose  a  clergyman  from 
1  Salkeld's  Beports,  666  ;  Bancroft,  vol.  II,  279  (ed.  1883). 


442  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

his  sacred  function ;  but,  as  representing  the  body  which 
furnished  the  means  of  living,  it  was  authorized  to  inquire 
into  cases  of  unworthiness  of  the  support  it  provided.  In 
the  absence  of  a  bishop  or  any  other  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity, the  act  provided  a  board  to  hear  and  decide  dif- 
ferences between  congregations  and  their  rectors.  In 
England,  proceedings  of  deprivation  were  generally  had 
in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  but  these  were  always  subject 
to  the  courts  of  common  law  which  regulated  them,  and 
sentences  were  pronounced  by  the  bishop  with  the  assist- 
ance of  his  chancellor  and  dean,  if  their  presence  might  be 
conveniently  had.  The  general  rule  no  doubt  was  that 
there  could  be  no  deprivation  without  precedent  ecclesi- 
astical sentence.  But  the  rule  was  by  no  means  universal. 
There  were  divers  statutory  offences,  some  of  nonfea- 
sance or  neglect  as  well  as  others  for  malfeasance,  and 
crimes  such  as  failure  to  read  the  liturgy  and  articles  and 
to  make  declarations  against  popery,  improper  absence, 
simony,  etc.,  which  needed  no  ecclesiastical  sentence,  but 
which  ipso  facto  worked  deprivation  and  loss  of  benefice.^ 

The  Bishop  of  London's  jurisdiction  in  the  colonies  was 
at  this  time  questioned,  as  we  have  seen;  and  justly  so, 
as  it  was  ultimately  held  by  the  Privy  Council  in  Eng- 
land.2  In  Jamaica,  where  it  was  barred  by  statute,  the 
Governor,  as  head  of  the  provincial  church,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  King  of  England,  not  only  inducted 
clergymen  into  their  rectories,  but  was  likewise  vested 
with  the  power  of  suspending  clergymen  for  lewd  and 
disorderly  lives  upon  application  of  ten  parishioners.^    The 

1  Biirns's  Ecclesiastical  Laio,  vol.  II,  126 ;  Dwyer's  Beports,  275 ; 
Jacob's  Law  Die.    Title,  Deprivation. 

2  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc,  vol.  VII,  303. 

8  Hist.  West  Indies  (Bryan  Edwards),  vol.  I,  208,  348. 

In  Virginia  the   Governors  EflBngham,  Nicholson,  and  Spottswood 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  443 

Carolina  act  gave  this  power  to  the  lay  commissions  in- 
stead of  to  the  Governor.  Was  it  not  proper,  there  being 
no  bishop  in  Carolina,  that  where  the  General  Assembly 
was  taxing  this  people  to  support  and  maintain  the  clergy, 
providing  them  with  parsonages,  glebe  lands,  and  negroes 
to  work  the  glebe  lands,  all  at  the  expense  of  the  public, 
some  court  should  be  provided  to  hear  complaints  against 
rectors  or  ministers  of  the  several  parishes,  and  to  re- 
move or  translate  them  for  good  cause?  The  Governor 
in  Jamaica  could  remove  upon  the  application  of  ten 
parishioners ;  under  the  Carolina  act  the  application  must 
be  made  by  nine  under  the  sanction  of  the  vestry,  an 
additional  safeguard  to  the  clergy.  Was  Mr.  Marston  to 
be  allowed  to  meddle  with  this  affair  of  the  government, 
assail  its  members  from  the  pulpit,  comparing  them  to 
Korah  and  his  rebellious  brethren,  and  the  people  have 
no  power  to  remove  him  ?  Would  not  any  vestry  to-day 
sever  the  connection  between  their  rector  and  their  church 
for  causes  mentioned  in  the  act  ?  Do  they  not  do  so  habit- 
ually? The  act  in  question,  in  fact,  provided  a  protec- 
tion to  the  clergyman,  in  that  it  would  not  allow  him  to 
be  displaced,  as  he  is  practically  to-day  by  the  vestry, 
whenever  differences  arise  between  the  congregation  and 
himself.  Dr.  Dalcho,  while  maintaining  that  Mr.  Marston 
was  removed  by  a  power  having  no  canonical  jurisdiction 
in  ecclesiastical  affaii-s,  admits  that  "  he  owed  his  removal 
to  his  imprudent  and  litigious  disposition." 

claimed  to  be  the  representatives  of  the  King  in  Church  and  State,  and 
patrons  of  all  the  parishes,  also  to  be  the  representatives  of  the  Bishop  of 
London,  having  the  disposal  of  the  ministers  and  the  exercise  of  discipline 
over  the  clergy,  thus  making  the  oflBce  of  the  commissary  a  nullity.  Old 
Churches  and  Families  in  Virginia  (Bishop  Meade),  vol.  I,  150. 

In  Maryland  the  right  of  induction  and  presentation  were  both  cen- 
tred in  the  Governor  alone.  The  commissary  could  only  remonstrate. 
Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Church,  vol.  Ill,  178. 


444  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

But  if  the  Carolina  act  was  so  obnoxious  to  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Church  of  England  as  to  be  ground  for  a 
forfeiture  of  its  charter,  why  was  not  that  of  Jamaica  to 
be  forfeited  as  well?  The  opinion  of  the  law  officer  of 
the  Crown  could  not  have  been  sustained  before  the 
courts  in  either  of  the  cases.  It  was  well  for  the  gov- 
ernment that  so  convenient  an  excuse  for  dropping  the 
case  was  so  easily  found. 

The  Queen  had  ordered  the  Proprietors  to  have  these 
measures  repealed.  Her  Majesty's  power  to  do  so  might 
well  have  been  questioned.  But  while  the  Proprietoi-s, 
divided  among  themselves  into  two  as  distinct  parties  as 
the  colonists  themselves,  had  now  escaped  a  threatened 
forfeiture  of  their  charter,  they  recognized  the  danger  of 
the  continued  hostile  attitude  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
were  well  content  to  come  out  of  the  difficulty  without 
further  controversy.  Instructions  were  sent  for  the  repeal 
of  the  measures  in  question.  And  indeed  it  was  time 
that  this  should  have  been  done,  for  the  Assembly  in 
Carolina  had  already  given  way  in  response  to  the  defeat 
of  the  Tories  in  England. 

The  act  requiring  conformity  to  the  church  as  a  quali- 
fication of  election  had  been  passed,  it  will  be  recollected, 
by  a  majority  of  only  one  in  a  House  from  which  several 
membei-s  were  absent.  In  a  full  House  some  time  after  a 
bill  had  been  carried  for  its  repeal,  but  was  lost  in  the 
Upper  House,  and  Governor  Johnson  had,  it  is  said,  "  in 
great  indignation  dissolved  the  Commons  House  by  the 
name  of  the  Unsteady  Assembly."  ^  In  the  election  for  the 
new  Assembly  Oldmixon  states  that  Craven  and  Berkeley 
counties  were  so  straitened  by  the  qualifying  act  that  they 
had  not  twenty  men  to  represent  them  unless  they  would 
choose  a  dissenter  or  one  unfit  for  the  position. 
^  British  Empire  in  Am. ,  vol.  I,  486. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  445 

Several  persons  were  admitted  as  representatives  from 
Colleton  County  in  the  place  of  those  who  refused  to 
qualify,  under  a  provision  of  the  act,  which  upon  the 
whole  was  perhaps  its  worst  feature,  providing  that  in 
such  cases  the  candidate  having  the  next  greatest  number 
of  votes  should  be  entitled  to  the  seat.  John  Ash,  the 
son  of  the  dissenters'  first  agent  to  England,  qualified 
himself  by  taking  the  baths  and  signing  their  declaration, 
but  was  not  apparently  otherwise  a  complaisant  member. 
He  was  soon  called  upon  to  answer  for  words  spoken  in 
derogation  of  the  House. ^ 

Upon  the  opening  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  6th 
of  March,  1706,  Governor  Johnson  sent  in  a  message.  As 
to  the  clause  in  the  Church  act  relating  to  the  twenty 
commissioners,  he  said,  the  members  were  aware,  by  the 
printed  votes  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  their  address 
to  her  Majesty,  what  offence  it  had  given.  In  order, 
therefore,  to  give  full  satisfaction  to  the  Lords,  the 
bishops,  and  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,  who 
were  offended  by  it,  and  in  order  to  settle  the  church 
in  the  province  by  an  act  that  might  not  be  disturbed  in 
England,  he  proposed  to  repeal  all  the  several  acts  upon 
the  subject  and  then  to  pass  one  general  act  establish- 
ing the  church  without  the  clause  giving  a  power  to  re- 
move the  clergy.  All  knew,  he  sard,  that  the  passing  of 
that  clause  was  to  get  rid  of  that  pest  of  the  country,  Mr. 
Marston,  who  had  been  a  common  incendiary  in  the  prov- 
ince, and  had  been  the  cause  of  differences  and  animosities 
between  himself  and  the  parishioners  of  St.  Philip's,  and 
that,  if  suffered  to  remain,  the  people  generally  would  for- 
sake the  church.  He  recommended,  therefore,  that  there 
should  be  a  clause  in  the  new  act  disabling  Mr.  Marston 
from  being  minister  in  Charles  Town.  He  thought  that 
1  MSS.  Journals. 


446  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

one  church  was  not  sufficient  for  Colleton  County  and 
recommended  the  establishment  of  another  parish  within  its 
limits.  As  the  main  end  of  the  act  against  dissenters,  he 
said,  was  to  enable  the  Assembly  to  establish  the  Church 
of  England,  so  when  the  act  he  proposed  was  passed  he 
recommended  the  repeal  of  that  against  the  dissenters. 
"  I  do  now  propose  to  you,"  he  concluded,  "  that  upon  the 
passing  of  the  act  for  the  security  of  the  church  as  before 
proposed,  I  shall  be  ready  to  join  you  in  the  repealing  of 
the  act  against  the  dissenters  sitting  in  the  Assembly."  ^ 

The  Assembly  did  not  act  immediately  upon  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Governor,  but  took  up  other  business,  and 
passed  another  measure,  which  the  dissenters  declared  to 
be  merely  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  church  party's  power, 
and  not  because  of  the  reasons  assigned  for  its  enactment. 
This  act  provided  for  the  continuance  of  the  present 
Assembly  for  the  term  of  two  years  after  its  ratification, 
during  the  life  and  continuance  in  office  of  the  present 
Governor,  and  that  it  should  not  be  dissolved  by  any  power 
or  person  whatsoever  within  that  time,  except  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  that  then  were.  It  was  to  continue 
likewise  for  eighteen  months  after  the  end  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  present  Governor  by  death  or  removal. 
The  reason  assigned  for  its  passage  was  the  danger  of  an- 
other invasion  by  the  French  and  Spaniards,  which  might 
render  an  election  inconvenient  and  inexpedient,  or  leave 
the  province  without  a  duly  organized  House ;  and  also  — 
which,  indeed,  was  no  doubt  its  real  motive  —  because  the 
preservation  of  the  Church  of  England  so  happily  begun 
might  be  endangered,  if  not  wholly  subverted  and  over- 
thrown, upon  the  election  of  another  House.  This 
attempt  to  prevent  the  exercise  of  the  popular  will  was  as 
futile  as  it  was  unwise ;  and,  as  Ave  shall  see,  was  disre- 
^MSS.  Journals  Commons. 


U^DER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  447 

garded  by  the  Governor  and  Council  themselves,  though 
they  now  approved  the  measure.^ 

On  the  30th  of  November,  1706,  in  pursuance  of  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  recommendation,  all  acts  relating  to  the 
church  were  repealed  ^  and  another  general  act  upon  the 
subject  passed  on  the  same  day.  The  act  of  1704  had  pro- 
vided for  the  building  of  six  churches,  but  had  not  laid 
out  or  defined  the  limits  of  the  parishes.  By  this  act  the 
province  was  divided  into  ten  defined  parishes.  The  neck 
of  land  between  Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers  was  made  into 
a  distinct  parish,  to  be  called  the  parish  of  St.  Philip's 
in  Charles  Town.  The  rest  of  Berkeley  County  was 
divided  into  six  more  parishes:  one  upon  the  southeast 
of  Wando  River,  to  be  called  the  parish  of  Christ  Church  ; 
one  upon  the  neck  of  land  between  Wando  and  Cooper 
rivers,  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  St.  Thomas's  ;  one  upon 
the  western  branch  of  Cooper,  to  be  called  by  the  name  of 
St.  John's;  one  upon  Goose  Creek,  to  be  called  by  the 
name  of  St.  James's,  Goose  Creek  ;  one  upon  the  Ashley,  to 
be  called  by  the  name  of  St.  Andrew's ;  one  in  Orange 
Quarter,  for  the  use  of  the  French  settlement  there,  to  be 
called  by  the  name  of  the  parish  of  St.  Dennis.  Colleton 
County  was  divided  into  two  parishes:  one  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Stono  River,  to  extend  to  the  north  side  of  South 
Edisto,  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  St.  Paul's,  and  the  other 
on  the  north  of  St.  Helen's  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  St. 
Bartholomew's.  The  Huguenots  on  the  Santee  had  peti- 
tioned that  their  settlement  be  made  a  parish,  and  that  their 
minister  should  have  the  same  allowance  as  ministers  of 
other  parishes,  and  so  that  part  of  Craven  County  known  as 
the  French  settlement  on  the  Santee  was  made  into  a  parish, 
and  the  church  built  in  Jamestown  in  that  settlement  was 
declared  to  be  the  parish  church  of  St.  James's,  Santee. 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  266.  2  statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  282. 


448  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  influence  of  the  Barbadian  element  in  the  province 
is  noticeable  in  the  names  of  these  parishes.  The  names 
of  these  and  those  afterwards  established  are  almost  identi- 
cal with  those  of  the  parishes  of  Barbadoes.^ 

The  act  provided  for  the  building  of  six  churches 
and  six  houses  for  the  rectors  of  the  several  parishes,  and 
c£2000,  raised  by  the  imposition  of  a  tax  on  skins  and 
furs,  chief  articles  of  commerce,  was  appropriated  for  the 
purpose.  This  was  a  very  large  sum  of  money,  amount- 
ing possibly  to  140,000  of  our  present  currency.  Com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  take  grants  of  land  for  the 
sites  of  the  churches  and  churchyards  and  glebes,  and  for 
the  houses  for  the  rectors.  Thi'ee  of  these  were  Hugue- 
nots.2  The  rectors  were  incorporated  as  in  the  act  of  1704. 
The  rector  of  St.  Philip's  was  to  receive  <£150  per  annum ; 
the  several  other  rectors  X50  each  for  three  years  and 
after  three  years  <£100,  except  the  rector  of  St.  Dennis,  who 
was  allowed  ^50  per  annum.  The  rectors  were  to  be  chosen 
in  the  same  manner  as  had  been  provided  in  the  act  of 
1T04,  that  is,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  parishes  who 
were  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  rector  of  St.  Dennis, 
Orange  Quarter,  and  of  St.  James's,  Santee,  were  allowed 
to  read  the  service  in  the  French  tongue  according  to  a 
translation  which  had  been  approved  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don.    Orange  Quarter  was  really  a  part  of  St.  Thomas's 

1  The  names  of  the  parishes  in  Barbadoes  were :  St.  Michael's,  St. 
Peter's,  St.  Thomas's,  St.  John's,  Clirist  Church,  St.  Lucy's,  St.  James's, 
St.  Philip's,  St.  Andrew's,  St.  George's,  St.  Joseph's.  Hist,  of  Barbadoes 
(Poyer),  116.     Hist.  West  Indies  (Bryan  Edwards),  vol.  I,  321. 

2  The  names  of  the  commissioners  were  :  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  Kn't, 
Hon.  Thomas  Broughton,  Nicholas  Trott,  Robert  Gibbes,  Henry  Noble, 
Ralph  Izard,  James  Risbee,  William  Rhett,  George  Logan,  Arthur  Mid- 
dleton,  David  Davis,  Thomas  Barton,  John  Abraham  Motte,  Robert  Sea- 
brook,  Hugh  Hicks,  John  Woodward,  Joseph  Page,  John  Ashly,  Richard 
Beresford,  Thomas  Wilkinson,  Jonathan  Fitch,  William  Bull,  Bene  Bave- 
neU  and  Philip  Gendron.    Those  in  italics  were  Huguenots. 


UKDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  449 

Parish,  but  few  of  the  inhabitants  could  attend  the  English 
Church,  as  they  did  not  understand  the  English  language, 
and  most  of  them  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  together 
in  a  small  church  of  their  own ;  as  they  desired,  however, 
to  conform  to  the  established  church,  upon  their  application 
they  were  incorporated  into  it.^ 

It  was  provided  by  this  act  that  in  each  parish  seven 
vestrymen  and  two  churchwardens  should  be  elected  on 
Easter  Monday  in  each  year,  who  should  be  required  to 
be  sworn  to  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  and  to 
subscribe  the  test  against  trans ubs tan tiation.  They  were 
required  to  serve  under  a  penalty. 

The  essential  benefits  to  the  colony  arising  from  this 
act,  observes  Rivers,  cause  us  to  regret  the  violent  and 
illegal  measures  by  which  it  originated.  Pious  and  learned 
men  could  now  be  induced  to  come  to  Carolina,  whenever 
their  services  were  needed.  Education  and  Protestant 
Christianity,  he  continues,  are  so  blended  that  a  country 
must  be  destitute  of  both,  if  it  be  long  in  want  of  either. 
The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  sent  out 
missionaries  not  only  to  preach,  but  to  "encourage  the 
setting  up  of  schools  for  the  teaching  of  children."  2 

There  is  preserved  in  the  Charleston  Library  a  manu- 
script volume  containing  eight  charges  delivered  by  Chief 
Justice  Trott  to  the  General  Sessions ;  one  of  these,  deliv- 
ered at  this  time,  is  upon  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  and  is 
a  most  learned  and  elaborate  defence  of  the  theory  of  the 
existence  of  witchcraft  as  a  crime.  While  not  actually 
asserting  that  every  one  that  doubts  the  existence  of 
witches  must  necessarily  deny  the  existence  of  spirits,  the 
Chief  Justice  makes  bold  to  assert  that  they  who  have 
given  good  proof  of  apparitions  and  witches  have  done 

1  Humphrey's  Soc.  Prop.  Gospel,  105 ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  288. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist,  47-50  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  231. 

2a 


460  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

some  service  to  the  cause  of  religion ;  for,  he  ingeniously 
argues,  if  there  be  such  creatures  as  witches,  then  there 
are  certainly  spirits  by  whose  aid  and  assistance  they  act, 
and  by  consequence  there  is  another  invisible  world 
of  spirits.  "Now,  though  I  am  not  at  all  inclined  to 
believe,"  he  charges  the  jury,  "  every  common  idle  story 
of  apparitions  and  witches  neither  should  I  have  you  to 
be  over  credulous  in  things  of  y^  nature  especially  when 
they  come  before  you  in  a  judicial  manner."  He  goes  on 
to  tell  the  jury  "yet  that  there  are  such  creatures  as 
witches  I  make  no  doubt ;  neither  do  I  think  they  can  be 
denied  without  denying  the  truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
or  most  grossly  perverting  them.  Now,"  he  says,  "  that 
the  Holy  Scriptures  do  affirm  that  there  are  witches  is 
evident  from  so  many  places  that  might  be  produced  out 
of  them  that  time  will  not  permit  me  to  cite  them  to 
you."  The  Chief  Justice  then  proceeds  to  examine  and 
discuss  before  the  jury  passages  of  Scripture  upon  which 
he  relies  for  his  belief,  and  in  doing  this  he  quotes,  and 
endeavors  to  explain  to  the  jury,  the  original  Hebrew  text 
of  the  Old  Testament  upon  the  subject.  The  juries  must 
have  been  very  different  in  those  days  from  the  present 
had  they  been  able  to  follow  his  Honor.  We  have  no  in- 
formation that  any  action  was  taken  upon  this  charge. 
Trott  was  not  singular  in  his  belief  at  the  time.  Indeed, 
he  was  but  adding  his  classical  learning  to  the  charge  of 
Sir  Matthew  Hale  in  the  famous  witchcraft  trial  at  Bury 
St.  Edmunds,  thirty  years  before,  in  which  that  great  judge 
declared  his  belief  that  there  were  such  creatures  ;  for,  said 
he,  the  Scriptures  have  affirmed  as  much.^  At  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century  belief  in  witchcraft  was  wide- 
spread, and  it  continued,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  for  a 
hundred  years  after.  The  fanatical  outbreak  at  Salem, 
^- State  Trials,  vol.  VI,  647-702. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  451 

Massachusetts,  in  1691-92,  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
incidents  in  the  history  of  New  England.^  The  act  of 
James  I,  c.  12,  against  witchcraft  was  one  of  the  English 
Statutes  which  we  shall  soon  see  reenacted  in  this  prov- 
ince, in  1712.2  It  is  said  that  in  1792  witches  abounded 
in  what  is  now  Fairfield  County  in  this  State,  and  as  late 
as  1813  or  1814,  Stephen  D.  Miller,  later  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  the  State,  gravely  maintained  the 
defence  to  an  indictment  of  assault,  battery,  and  false  im- 
prisonment that  an  old  woman,  the  prosecutrix,  residing 
in  Chesterfield  had  maltreated  by  diabolical  arts  a  poor 
girl  residing  in  Lancaster,  and  had  ridden  her  as  a  horse 
from  town  to  town.^ 

The  volume  of  manuscript  charges  of  Chief  Justice 
Trott  concludes  with  one  in  which  he  sentences  a  woman 
to  be  burned  under  tlie  provisions  of  the  common  law, 
which  holds  the  murder  of  a  husband  by  a  wife  to  be  petty 
treason,  and  therefore  liable  to  that  terrible  punishment. 
We  have,  however,  no  record  of  the  case  nor  account  of 
the  execution  of  the  sentence.  We  may  safely  assume 
that  the  woman  was  not  burned. 

1  The  Emancipation  of  Mass.  (Brooks  Adams),  216-236. 

2  Statutes,  vol.  II,  508. 

3  See  a  most  interesting  note  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  editor  of  the 
Statutes  at  Large,  upon  this  subject.     Statutes,  vol.  II,  739-743. 


CHAPTER   XX 

1706-1709 

If  the  Tories  in  England  had  lost  their  influence  by 
their  lukewarmness  to  the  war,  those  in  Carolina,  under 
the  lead  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  had  redeemed  the  char- 
acter of  their  party  for  loyalty  and  devotion  to  her 
Majesty  the  Queen,  and  to  the  cause  of  the  mother  conn- 
try  against  all  her  enemies.  Putting  aside  all  party  strife 
and  daring,  not  only  the  united  forces  of  the  French  and 
Spaniards,  but  the  danger  of  pestilential  disease,  they  had 
hastened  with  their  fellow-colonists,  in  the  double  expo- 
sure of  their  lives,  to  the  defence  of  the  infected  and 
beleaguered  town.  They  may  not  yet  have  heard  of  Marl- 
borough's glorious  victory  of  Ramillies  of  the  23d  of  May ; 
but  they  remembered  Blenheim,  and  as  far  as  the  opportun- 
ity and  occasion  had  allowed  in  this  extreme  outpost  of  the 
kingdom,  had  likewise  performed  their  duty,  and  added 
some  fresh  laurels  to  the  glory  of  England  of  the  year 
1706.  They  had  done  at  least  their  duty  —  as  if  at 
Namur. 

But  great  had  been  the  calamities  of  the  summer.  The 
yellow  fever  had  been  most  fatal.  Five  or  six  deaths  a 
day  among  the  small  population  of  the  town  was  not  an 
uncommon  occurrence.  Among  those  who  died  were  the 
restless  and  ambitious  Colonel  James  Moore,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Thomas,  who  had  just  returned  from  England, 
where  we  have  seen  him  in  conference  with  the  Society 

452 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  453 

for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  Mr.  Job  Howes,  the 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly  which  had  passed  the  laws  that 
had  occasioned  so  much  contention,  and  many  other  worthy 
persons  of  both  parties.  Some  dissenters,  not  contented 
with  the  defeat  of  the  measure  which  would  have  excluded 
them  from  the  government,  but  objecting  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  church  at  all,  had  abandoned  the  colony. 

The  number  of  the  inhabitants  was,  nevertheless,  in- 
creasing, and  though  most  of  the  dissenters  acquiesced  in 
the  establishing  of  the  church,  they  renewed  the  struggle 
for  the  political  control  of  the  colony,  and  soon  regained 
their  ascendency  in  the  Assembly. 

During  the  distractions  of  the  province  and  the  confu- 
sion spread  everywhere  by  the  war  with  France  and  Spain, 
the  traders  among  the  Indians  had  carried  matters  with  a 
high  hand ;  their  abuses  now  occasioned  fresh  trouble  and 
alarm.  Though  Colonel  Rhett  had  succeeded  Howes  as 
Speaker,  the  Governor's  party  lost  control  of  the  Commons, 
and  the  Assembly  determined  to  remodel  the  whole  plan 
of  conducting  the  Indian  trade.  It  was  proposed  to  ap- 
point commissioners  with  full  power,  executive  and  judi- 
cial, to  settle  without  delay  all  difficulties  in  that  business. 
The  salary  of  the  Governor  was  at  that  time  £200  ster- 
ling; but  this  was  augmented  indirectly  by  allowances 
derived  from  the  management  of  this  trade.  It  was  now 
proposed  that  the  customary  presents  from  the  Indians,  for 
which  they  expected  special  favors,  should  go  into  the  pub- 
lic treasury,  and  an  equivalent  was  offered  to  the  Governor 
in  lieu  of  these  perquisites.  Sir  Nathaniel  demurred  to  this 
as  curtailing  the  only  "  considerable  source  of  his  income," 
and  appealed  to  the  Assembly  ;  were  not  his  services  in  the 
recent  invasion  "sufficient  to  excite  their  gratitude  and 
liberality  "  ?  But  the  Assembly  was  obdurate.  Instead  of 
yielding,  they  sent  a  bill  for  his  approval  to  prevent  tu- 


/ 


454  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

mults  at  elections,  which  he  rejected  as  contrary  to  his 
instructions.  Notwithstanding  the  act  continuing  the 
present  Assembly  for  two  years,  approved  by  him  so 
shortly  before,  the  Governor  thereupon  dissolved  the 
body.^ 

At  the  election  for  a  new  Assembly  the  party  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Governor  gained  complete  ascendency,  and  at 
once  elected  as  Speaker  Thomas  Smith,  whom  the  former 
House  had  had  in  custody  because  of  the  libel  of  his  letters 
to  Ash.  Mr.  Marston  had  been  continuously  importuning 
the  Governor  and  Assembly  for  his  salary,  of  which  he  had 
been  deprived ;  and  upon  the  accession  to  the  speakership 
of  his  friend,  Mr.  Smith,  for  visiting  whom  while  he  was 
in  the  custody  of  the  Messenger  he  had  been  arraigned 
by  the  House,  Mr.  Marston  at  once  renewed  his  applica- 
tion for  payment.  The  Governor  complained  that  he  was 
affronted  "  by  his  saucy  letter  "  and  rejected  it.  But  the 
House  heard  Mr.  Marston  favorably,  and,  on  the  30th  of 
October,  1707,  sent  an  address  to  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil asking  for  their  reasons  "  why  Dr.  Marston  ought  not 
to  be  paid  according  to  the  directions  of  the  Church  a<3t." 
The  Governor  and  Council  replied,  November  6,  that  they 
wondered  that  the  Assembly  should  ask,  "  when  you  may 
see  the  reasons  very  plainly  in  the  words  of  the  ordinance, 
where,  after  reciting  his  offences,  it  is  expressly  said 
that  no  more  money  shall  be  paid  him  out  of  the  public 
treasury  until  such  time  as  by  an  ordinance  of  the  General 
Assembly  upon  his  amendment,  better  behavior,  and  sub- 
mission to  the  government  he  be  restored  to  the  same." 
That  so  far  from  any  amendment  or  submission,  "  he  con- 
tinued his  abuses  and  railing  constantly  in  his  sermons,  so 
that  neither  the  Governor  nor  no  one  of  those  concerned 
in  the  government  could  go  to  church  except  they  would 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  243. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  455 

be   content   to   hear   themselves   abused;    he    having   his 
abusive  papers,  ready  penned  into  his  sermon  notes,  to 

(  make  use  of  when  he  saw  any  one  concerned  in  the  gov- 
ernment come  to  church."     In  answer  to  the  argument 
that  Dr.  Marston  had  officiated,  they  said  that  no   one 
1  desired  him  to  do  so,  and  all  would  have  been  glad  if  he 
had  left  it  alone ;  for  it  was  his  doing  so  drove  them  and 

.  others  from  the  church.  "  And  therefore,"  continued  the 
Governor  and  Council,  "  we  wonder  to  see  you  repeat  your 
affronts  to  the  Governor  by  siding  with  Mr.  Marston  by 

,  which  we  and  every  one  may  plainly  see  that  a  person 
need  have  no  other  qualification  to  entitle  him  to  your 
favor  but  abusing  the  government."  They  concluded  by 
assuring  the  Assembly  :  "  We  will  never  give  consent  that 
he  shall  have  any  money  paid  him  out  of  the  public  treas- 
ury; neither  will  we  spend  any  more  time  and  pains  in 
receiving  or  answering  any  more  messages  relating  to 
him."  1 

Having  failed  to  reinstate  Mr.  Marston,  and  disposed 
to  be  quarrelsome,  the  Assembly  next  turned  upon  the 
Governor's  two  friends,  Colonel  Rhett  and  Chief  Justice 
Trott.  They  resolved  that  Rhett  "  should  no  longer  be  sole 
commissioner  for  the  fortifications,"  and  requested  to  be 
informed  how  Trott  obtained  his  position  as  deputy  in  the 
Council.  They  had  not,  they  said,  been  officially  notified 
how  Nicholas  Trott,  of  London,  had  become  Proprietor. 
Governor  Johnson  replied  informing  them  that  Claren- 
don's Proprietary  share  had  been  assigned  to  Sothell,  and 
upon  his  death  the  Proprietors  had  assigned  it  to  Amy, 
and  that  Amy  had  assigned  it  as  a  portion  for  his 
daughter  upon  her  marriage  with  Nicholas  Trott,  of 
London,  a  cousin  of  the  Chief  Justice,  whom  he  had 
appointed  his  deputy.  The  Commons  were  not  satisfied. 
iPalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  69-72. 


456  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Indeed,  they  had  probably  been  instigated  from  London 
to  raise  this  question.  They  desired  proof  that  the  other 
Proprietors  had  sanctioned  the  claim  of  Mr.  Trott  of 
London,  and  declared  the  Chief  Justice  "an  unfit  man 
for  any  public  commission  or  office."  ^ 
V  Without  consulting  the  Governor,  and  in  manifest 
disrespect  to  him,  the  Assembly  sent  Mr.  Berresford  under 
their  authority  to  the  Savannah  Indians.  The  Governor 
and  Council  resented  this  as  an  additional  slight  and 
interference  with  their  prerogatives,  as  they  alone  had 
power  to  make  peace  or  war.  Pursuing  the  same  hostile 
course,  the  House  renewed  the  question  as  to  their  right 
to  elect  a  Receiver  of  the  public  money.  James  Moore, 
the  Receiver,  had  died  the  summer  before,  and  the 
Assembly  now  claimed  the  right  to  elect  his  successor,  as 
they  had  ineffectually  attempted  before  on  the  death  of 
Mr.  Ely.  If  the  Proprietors  or  other  deputies,  said  they, 
claim  to  appoint  this  officer  under  the  charter,  they  can  as 
well  claim  to  appoint  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  Was 
it  not  strange,  they  asked,  that  the  greater  power  of 
disposing  of  the  public  money  was  in  the  people,  and  the 
lesser  power,  incidental  to  it,  of  choosing  the  Receiver 
of  the  money,  should  be  denied  them?  They  proceeded 
to  nominate  Colonel  George  Logan  for  the  office.  The 
Governor  objected,  but  the  House  persisted  and  unani- 
mously elected  him.^ 

The  Board  of  Trade  in  England  had  eagerly  listened 
to  the  mission  of  Mr.  Boone  as  opening  the  way  to  a 
subversion  of  the  Proprietors'  charter  and  the  establish- 
ment of  an  immediate  Royal  Government,  and  in  so  doing 
had  given  a  new  vent  to  the  discontent  with  the  Pro- 
prietors and  their  Governor  and  Council.     The  opposition 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  244. 
2iZ)td.,246. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  457 

party,  which  had  now  the  control  of  the  Commons  in 
South  Carolina,  at  once  availed  themselves  of  this  new 
opening  to  the  ear  of  the  Royal  Government.  They 
appointed  a  committee  on  grievances  and  sent  their  report 
to  the  Queen.  They  also  prepared  specific  charges  against 
Trott,  and  desired  the  Governor  and  Council  to  displace 
him  from  his  office  of  Judge  and  asked  that  he  be  brought 
to  trial  before  a  court.  "  The  whole  body  of  the  people," 
said  they,  "  have  such  an  aversion  against  him  upon  just 
grounds  that  they  will  neither  hurry  their  actions  nor 
serve  as  jurymen  until  he  be  either  punished  or  legally 
cleared  of  what  is  laid  against  him."  The  Governor 
refused  to  remove  Trott,  as  such  an  action  on  his  part 
would  be  unprecedented  and  contrary  to  law.  The 
House  should  impeach  him  before  the  Council.  This  the 
House  refused  to  do;  while  Trott,  on  the  other  hand, 
declared  that  he  could  only  be  tried  in  England  before  the 
Proprietors  from  whom  he  held  his  commission.^ 

Had  the  condition  of  the  province  permitted  it.  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  would  long  since  have  dissolved  this  refrac- 
tory House  of  Representatives.  But  a  threat  of  invasion 
by  the  Savannah  Indians  obliged  him  to  reconvene  them. 
Upon  their  assembling,  he  requested  that,  before  proceed- 
ing to  business,  they  would  rescind  from  their  journals 
the  complaints  against  himself.  To  this  request  they  an- 
swered they  did  not  consider  themselves  legally  convened, 
because  Trott's  name  on  the  proclamation  just  completed 
a  quorum  of  the  Council,  and  they  did  not  recognize  him 
as  a  deputy.  The  inconsistency  of  this  position  is  ap- 
parent ;  for,  if  not  properly  convened,  they  constituted  no 
legal  body  to  be  sitting  receiving  and  sending  messages. 
But  standing  upon  this  point,  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
the  Assembly  could  be  brought  to  the  consideration  of  the 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  245. 


458  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

exigencies  of  the  province,  and  induced  to  enable  the  Gov- 
ernor to  organize  a  force  against  the  public  enemies,  and 
to  raise  money  for  its  support.^ 

Thomas  Smith,  the  present  Speaker,  had  been  arrested 
by  the  previous  House,  and  taken  into  custody  of  the 
Messenger  for  libelling  that  body.  The  tables  were  now 
turned,  and  he  was  avenged.  Colonel  Risbee,  a  member 
of  that  House,  the  author  of  the  bill  against  dissenters, 
was  brought  to  the  bar,  before  Smith  as  Speaker,  on  a 
charge  of  vilifying  the  present  Assembly  while  over  his 
bottle  of  wine  in  a  tavern  .2 

The  Governor  saw  that  a  compromise  was  necessary  to 
allay  the  increasing  excitement.  Logan,  having  declined 
the  office  so  that  no  personal  objection  to  himself  might 
embarrass  the  Assembly,  the  Governor  yielded  on  his  part, 
and  approved  an  act  which  asserted  the  right  of  the  House 
to  elect  the  Receiver.  The  Assembly  then  agreed  to  allow 
the  Governor  X400  for  relinquishing  the  Indian  perquisites, 
besides  XlOO  per  annum,  and  at  length  sufficient  harmony 
was  restored  for  proceeding  with  enactments  which  the 
public  interests  demanded.^ 

At  the  next  election  the  Governor's  party  regained  their 
control.  The  new  Assembly  was  organized  with  Colonel 
Risbee  as  Speaker.  But  changes  had  taken  place  in  Eng- 
land which  allowed  his  Excellency  but  a  short  enjoyment 
of  his  restored  power.  Lord  Granville  was  dead,  and 
was  succeeded  as  Palatine  by  William  Lord  Craven ;  *  the 
Board  of  Proprietors  was  reorganized,  and  turned  against 
him. 


1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  246  ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II, 
320-324. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  246. 

8  Ibid.,  246  ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  306-311. 
*  Coll.  Hist.  Soc  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  153, 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  459 

The  board,  as  now  composed,  consisted  of  William  Lord 
Craven,  who  represented  also  the  minor  Lord  Carteret,  Sir 
John  Colleton,  Maurice  Ashley,  who  represented  also  the 
minor  Joseph  Blake,  and  John  Archdale.  The  share  of 
the  late  Lord  Granville  was  not  represented,  and  Trott 
(who  claimed  not  only  the  Clarendon-Sothell  share,  but 
that  also  originally  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  which  Arch- 
dale  was  now  admitted  to  represent)  was  not  recognized 
at  all  by  the  other  Proprietors.  The  board  thus  consti- 
tuted was  reduced  practically  to  but  four  members, — Lord 
Craven,  Sir  John  Colleton,  Maurice  Ashley,  and  John  Arch- 
dale.  But  Trott  would  not  tamely  submit  to  his  exclusion. 
He  instituted  proceedings  in  chancery.  It  was  upon  this 
that  the  move  was  made  in  the  Assembly  in  South  Caro- 
lina against  the  deputation  of  his  cousin,  the  Chief  Justice, 
as  his  representative  in  the  Council. 

Trott's  case  was  this:  Thomas  Amy,  it  will  be  recol- 
lected, had  acted  as  the  agent  in  procuring  immigrants  for 
the  colony,  and  had  been  made  use  of  as  a  trustee  for  them 
when  they  bought  the  share  of  Sir  William  Berkeley. 
This  trusteeship  they  had  changed  without  his  consent  or 
release,  and  had  sold  the  share  to  Thomas  Archdale  with- 
out his  concurrence  or  his  joining  in  the  conveyance. 
The  legal  title  to  the  share,  therefore,  it  was  claimed,  re- 
mained in  Amy  and  this  claim  was  really  never  confuted. 
The  Proprietors  had,  however,  in  the  place  of  that  share, 
assigned  to  Amy  the  share  late  of  Sothell,  which  they  had 
sequestered;  and  Amy  had  settled  it  upon  his  daughter  as  a 
portion  when  she  married  Trott.  Thomas  Amy  died  Sep- 
tember 21, 1704.  And  upon  his  death,  Trott,  very  probably 
at  the  suggestion  of  his  kinsman  the  Chief  Justice  of  Caro- 
lina, set  up  a  claim,  not  only  to  the  Sothell  share  which  had 
been  settled  upon  his  wife,  but  also  to  a  considerable  sum 
alleged  to  have  been  advanced  by  Amy  while  he  was  acting 


460  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

as  the  agent  of  the  Proprietors  —  a  sum  ascertained  by  the 
courts  to  amount  with  interest  to  <£2538  lis  3c?.  For  this 
sum  he  claimed  that  the  heirs  of  Amy,  i.e.  his  wife,  Ann  Trott, 
and  her  sister,  Elizabeth  Moore,  were  entitled  to  hold  the 
legal  title  of  the  share  which  had  been  sold  to  Archdale  with- 
out Amy's  concurrence  or  without  his  joining  in  the  con- 
veyance. This  contention  of  Trott  we  shall  see  sustained 
by  the  decree  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  Macclesfield,  but 
afterwards  reversed  by  the  House  of  Lords ;  ^  that  body 
still,  however,  recognizing  that  the  legal  title  was  yet  in 
the  heirs  at  law  of  Amy. 

John  Archdale,  on  the  22d  of  October,  1708,  conveyed 
the  share  in  dispute,  the  title  to  which  he  held,  —  that  origi- 
nall}^  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  —  to  his  son-in-law,  John 
Danson,  for  £200.  But  before  doing  so  he  avenged  his 
party  upon  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  "  whose  chymical  wit," 
he  charged,  had  transmuted  the  civil  differences  in  the 
colony  into  a  religious  controversy.^  The  Clarendon- 
Sothell  share,  meanwhile,  was  not  represented. 

The  late  Palatine,  says  Hewatt,  from  a  mixture  of  spirit- 
ual and  political  pride,  despised  all  dissenters  as  the  ene- 
mies of  both  hierarchy  and  monarchy,  and  believed  the 
State  could  only  be  secure  while  the  civil  authority  was 
lodged  in  the  hands  of  High  Churchmen.  Lord  Craven 
did  not  possess  the  same  proud  and  intolerant  spirit ;  he 
considered  that  those  Carolinians  who  maintained  liberty 
of  conscience  merited  greater  indulgences  from  them,  and 
though  a  friend  to  the  Church  of  England,  he  doubted 
whether  the  minds  of  the  people  were  ripe  for  the  intro- 
duction of  that  establishment.  He  therefore  urged  lenity 
and  toleration.3 

1  Trott  V.  Danson,  3  Brown's  Pari.  Cases,  449 ;  1  Perre  WilliamSy  780. 

2  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I,  483. 

8  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  195. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  461 

Governor  Johnson  was  now  assailed  through  Archdale's 
influence  from  both  colonies ;  from  North  as  well  as  from 
South  Carolina.  By  his  commission,  Sir  Nathaniel  was 
Governor  of  both  South  and  North  Carolina,  with  power 
to  appoint  a  Deputy  Governor  in  either.  Under  this 
power  he  had  appointed  Colonel  Robert  Daniel  Deputy 
Governor  of  North  Carolina,  while  he  personally  adminis- 
tered the  government  of  South  Carolina.  Governor  Daniel 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  the  church  in  his  colony; 
but  had  not  attempted  a  disfranchisement  of  the  non- 
conformist.^ But  the  Quakers,  who  were  very  numerous 
in  North  Carolina,  had  refused  to  take  the  new  oaths  pre- 
scribed by  Parliament  in  the  first  year  of  Queen  Anne 
(1704),  and  were  consequently  dismissed  from  the  Council, 
Assembly,  and  courts  of  justice.  This  so  nettled  them 
that,  in  1706,  they  sent  one  John  Porter  to  England  with 
fresh  grievances  and  complaints  against  Sir  Nathaniel  and 
his  deputy.  Colonel  Daniel,^  and  succeeded  in  prevailing 
upon  the  Proprietors  to  order  Johnson  to  remove  Daniel, 
and  to  appoint  another  Deputy  Govern or.^ 

Mr.  Boone  had  been  much  elated  by  his  success  with 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Whig  House  of  Lords  against 
the  measures  of  Sir  Nathaniel  in  South  Carolina,  and  now 
that  Lord  Granville  was  dead,  and  the  dissenters  in  the  as- 
cendency among  the  Proprietors,  nothing  but  the  disgrace 
of  the  Governor  would  appease  the  indignity  with  which 
he  conceived  himself  to  have  been  treated  by  the  board 
under  the  late  Palatine.  He  presented  another  petition 
to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  charging  the  Governor  with 
crimes  against  the  civil  and  religious  interests  of  the 
province.*     He  charged  that  the  "province  was  in  great 

^  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  1  vol.,  Preface  (W.  L.  Saunders). 

2  Tbid,  708.  a  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  508. 

*  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  82. 


462  HISTOEY   OF   SOtfTH  CAROLtNA 

danger  of  being  brought  into  a  ruinous  condition  if  not 
absolutely  lost,  and  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  French 
by  the  present  evil  administration  of  the  government  there." 
With  feigned  devotion  he  declared  that  the  Fundamental 
Constitutions  —  the  same  aristocratic  Constitutions  which 
the  people  had  been  resisting  since  the  foundation  of  the 
province,  and  which  themselves  established  the  Church  of 
England,  but  which  he  now  described  as  "  calculated  with 
great  wisdom  and  temper  suitable  to  the  different  persuasion 
of  christians  about  religious  matters  "  —  had  been  of  late 
very  much  violated.  That  "  thereby,"  i.e.  by  the  violation 
of  the  Constitutions,  "  the  inhabitants  had  been  so  divided, 
and  such  animosities  raised  amongst  them,  as  have  been 
the  frequent  occasion  of  riots  and  tumults  in  which  several 
of  the  inhabitants  had  been  in  danger  of  losing  their  lives." 

The  inhabitants  had  hoped,  he  said,  that  the  province 
would  have  been  restored  to  its  former  peace  and  tran- 
quillity when  the  two  unreasonable  acts  of  Assembly  were 
repealed  by  her  Majesty's  authority,  pursuant  to  an  address 
of  the  Lords  in  Parliament ;  but,  contrary  to  their  expecta- 
tions, the  Governor  of  the  province  had  dissolved  the 
Assembly  because  he  was  informed  they  had  prepared 
an  address  to  her  Majesty,  and  another  to  the  Lords  to 
testify  their  thankful  sense  of  her  Majesty's  goodness  in 
repealing  those  acts  and  the  care  of  the  peers  in  asserting 
their  rights. 

Then  came  a  repetition  of  the  old  story  that  the  elec- 
tions had  been  managed  with  such  partiality  and  injustice 
that  "  all  sorts  of  people,  even  negroes,  alien  jews  and  com- 
mon sailors  had  been  admitted  to  vote  in  such  elections." 
That  to  prevent  this  an  act  had  been  passed  by  both 
Houses  of  Assembly,  but  the  Governor  had  refused  to 
assent  to  it.  Mr.  Boone  omitted,  however,  to  mention  that 
the  reason  assigned  by  the  Governor  for  his  so  doing  was 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  463 

that  the  provisions  of  the  act  were  contrary  to  his  instruc- 
tions. 

A  dangerous  act  had  been  passed  —  he  went  on  to  say 
—  to  continue  an  Assembly  for  two  years  absolutely,  and 
for  eighteen  months  after  the  death  or  removal  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, unless  the  Governor  should  think  fit  to  dissolve  it 
sooner,  whereby  the  very  foundations  of  the  people's  free- 
dom was  absolutely  struck  at,  and  the  province  deprived 
of  the  only  method  they  had  to  restore  its  first  liberty. 
Again,  Mr.  Boone  omitted  to  mention  that  the  Governor, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  in  fact  dissolved  the  Assembly,  so 
that  the  objectionable  act  was  at  an  end.  The  act  was  still 
made  to  do  a  turn,  —  to  show  how  wicked  Sir  Nathaniel 
had  been  in  assenting  to  it. 

f  The  Indian  nations  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  province, 
Mr.  Boone  stated,  had  been  so  inhumanly  treated  that 
they  were  in  great  danger  of  revolting  to  the  French, 
who  were  continually  tempting  them,  whereby  the  prov- 
ince would  be  infallibly  ruined ;  that  the  Governor,  though 
admitting  the  danger,  had  refused  to  consent  to  an  act 
upon  the  subject  because  it  would  take  away  a  great  part 
of  his  private  profit;  nor  could  he  be  prevailed  upon  to 
consent  to  it  until  he  had  in  a  shameful  manner  forced 
the  Assembly  to  give  him  the  sum  of  X400  and  to  settle 
£100  on  him  and  on  all  succeeding  Governors,  which  Mr. 
Boone  alleged  was  a  corruption  beyond  example.  Then, 
changing  the  subject  of  his  complaint  from  the  Governor 
to  Trott,  justice,  Mr.  Boone  charged,  was  very  corruptly 
and  partially  administered  by  the  present  Chief  Justice, 
who  had  several  offices  to  himself  which  ought  to  be  in 
different  hands  ;  that  the  Chief  Justice  had  been  guilty  of 
very  arbitrary  proceedings  by  illegally  imprisoning  some  of 
the  best  inhabitants,  by  refusing  the  presentation  of  grand 
juries,    by  countenancing   riots,  by  taking  upon  himself 


464  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

to  exercise  ecclesiastical  authority  and  arbitrarily  depriv- 
ing an  established  minister  of  the  Church  of  England 
of  his  living,  and  with  treating  some  of  the  best  inhabi- 
tants with  scandalous  and  "  revilious  "  language  in  open 
court.  Mr.  Boone  stated  that  he  had  been  threatened  to 
be  severely  used  if  he  should  return  to  his  estate  and 
family  in  the  province,  only  because  he  had  come  to  Eng- 
land to  represent  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  province. 
That  those  who  had  the  power  in  the  province  had  re- 
fused the  public  seal  to  be  affixed  to  such  papers  as  would 
make  the  evidences  of  all  the  grievances  of  the  province 
more  authentic,  and  to  render  it  more  difficult  for  the 
petitioner  to  make  out  his  case.  That  he  had  forborne 
making  any  further  application  to  her  Majesty  or  the  Par- 
liament for  redress  of  grievances,  in  the  hopes  that  their 
Lordships  would  be  pleased  to  provide  speedy  relief. 

"  Wherefore,"  continued  Mr.  Boone,  "  your  petitioner 
most  humbly  prays  that  your  Lordships  would  be  pleased 
to  take  the  calamitous  state  of  the  said  province  into  your 
consideration,  and  to  put  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment there,  upon  such  an  equal  foot  as  may  be  agreeable 
to  the  Royal  charter  by  which  it  is  held,  and  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  established  by  your  Predecessors, 
which  encouraged  some  of  the  best  inhabitants  to  trans- 
port themselves  and  families  thither,  and  which  while 
they  were  duly  observed,  increased  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  made  trade  to  flourish  and  all  the  people 
there  to  live  happy  and  easy."^ 

The  position  of  the  dissenters,  as  represented  by  Mr. 
Boone  in  England,  was  most  inconsistent  and  insincere. 
While  flattering  the  pride  of  the  Proprietors  in  their 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  asserting  against  the  well- 
known  facts  that  the  people  had  acquiesced  in  them  and 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  HisU,  82-84. 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  465 

flourished  under  their  provisions,  he  was  at  the  same  time 
invoking  the  hostility  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  overthrow 
the  charter  which  he  was  praising  to  the  Proprietors. 
The  purpose  of  his  mission  to  England  was  to  prevent 
the  establishment  of  the  church,  and  yet  we  find  him 
arguing  that  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  colony 
was  under  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  declaring  that  the 
interference  of  laymen  in  church  affairs  was  held  in  de- 
testation and  abhorrence  in  the  colony.  Demanding  free- 
dom of  conscience  for  the  people  he  represented  and 
claiming  that  the  guarantee  of  it  under  the  charter  car- 
ried with  it  the  right  of  the  elective  franchise,  he  was 
indignantly  resenting  the  extension  of  that  right  to  the 
French  Protestants  who  had  settled  in  the  province.  Mr. 
Boone  was,  nevertheless,  listened  to  and  the  removal  of 
Governor  Johnson  determined  upon. 

Governor  Johnson  was  not  apprised  of  these  movements 
against  him,  and  only  learned  of  them  when  the  notice  of 
his  removal  was  received.  It  was  not  until  April  9,  1709, 
that  the  Proprietors  wrote  to  the  Assembly  notifying 
them  of  the  appointments  of  Colonel  Edward  Tynte  as 
Governor;  Colonel  Robert  Gibbes  as  Chief  Justice ;  William 
Sanders,  Esq.,  Attorney  General;  Henry  Wiggington, 
Secretary ;  Nathaniel  Sale,  Esq.,  son  of  Governor  William 
Sale,  Receiver  General;  and  Edward  Hyme,  Esq.,  to  be 
Naval  officer.  A  postscript  stated  that  the  Duke  of  Beaufort 
was  legally  invested  in  the  proprietorship  of  the  late  Lord 
Granville,  and  John  Danson  in  that  of  John  Archdale.^ 

Upon  the  reconvening  of  the  Assembly  October  20, 1709, 
Governor  Johnson  thus  addressed  that  body  :  ^  — 

"You  all  know  that  the  Gentleman  who  is  to  succeed  me  is  ex 
pected  in  every  day,  and  my  utmost  ambition  when  I  resign  the  gov- 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  156. 

2  Dalcho's  Gh.  Hist.,  80. 
2h 


466  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

ernment  is,  only  to  carry  with  me  an  unsullied  reputation,  and  the 
character  of  having  acquitted  myself  worthy  of  the  trust  committed 
to  me ;  and  though  I  may  from  the  justice  of  this  present  assembly 
promise  myself  that  advantage  yet  my  satisfaction  will  be  imperfect 
while  Mr.  Boone's  libel  against  me  to  the  Lords  Proprietors  remains 
unanswered,  and  which  their  Lordships  have  been  pleased  to  send 
me,  in  order  to  acquit  myself  from  the  imputations  it  contains. 

"  It  is  that  infamous  Libel,  Gentlemen,  that  I  desire  to  lay  before 
you  wherein  Mr.  Boone  most  unfairly,  when  there  was  no  person  to 
appear  or  answer  for  me,  endeavoured  to  traduce  me  to  her  Majesty, 
and  the  Lords  Proprietors,  and  though  I  could  in  a  less  public  manner 
assert  my  innocence  and  confute  the  slanders  and  reflections  therein 
fixed  on  me,  yet  I  choose  this  way  not  only  that  I  may  act  with  less 
partiality  but  that  (if  I  appear  to  be  slandered)  I  may  receive  such  a 
public  justification  as  will  be  sufficient  to  vindicate  my  past  actions 
in  the  government,  and  confound  my  accusers,  and  herein  it  is  my 
peculiar  happiness  that  I  do  not  appeal  to  persons  unacquainted  with 
my  transactions  in  the  government  but  to  men  who  (for  the  major 
part)  have  been  privy  to  my  administration,  and  witnesses  of  all  my 
actions  both  in  Church  and  State. 

"  It  must  not  at  the  same  time  be  denied,  but  that  as  a  man,  and 
a  man  almost  worn  out  with  sickness  and  old  age,  I  have  had  my 
infirmities  and  stood  in  need  of  a  little  indulgence,  and  probably  some 
of  my  most  zealous  designs  for  the  good  of  the  province  had  not  the 
designed  success,  but  let  me  find  no  favour  or  excuse  of  any  person,  if 
I  am  found  by  yotir  strictest  scrutiny  to  have  endeavoured  the  betray- 
ing this  province  to  the  French,  involving  you  in  a  war  with  our 
friendly  Indians,  or  any  other  enormous  crimes  raked  together  and 
penned  in  a  style  as  inveterate  as  malice  and  envy  could  in  the  most 
bitter  words  be  suggested  or  expressed. 

"  I  do  therefore,  Gentlemen,  conjure  you,  as  each  of  you  respect 
your  particular  honour  and  reputation  to  do  me  justice  in  this  affair. 

"  The  Libel  or  his  Petition  as  he  is  pleased  to  call  it  I  herewith 
lay  before  you.  Please  send  for  Mr.  Boone  and  oblige  him,  if  he  can, 
to  prove  and  make  good  the  crimes  he  has  therein  laid  to  my  charge, 
and  give  me  leave  to  answer  whatever  he  shall  affirm  before  you,  and 
upon  the  whole  draw  up  such  a  report  as  shall  be  agreeable  to  the 
honour  and  justice  of  your  House.  If  I  am  not  innocent  let  me  bear 
the  guilt  under  the  disadvantage  of  having  it  declared  so  by  you. 
But  if  it  appears,  the  gentleman  has  undeservedly  abused  me,  let  my 
justification  be  as  public;  that  it  may  be  recorded  in  the  journals  of 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  467 

your  House,  be  transmitted  home  to  their  Lordships  to  obviate  any 
impressions  taken  to  my  disadvantage." 

The  Commons,  who  were  now  entirely  in  the  interest  of 
the  Governor,  sent  for  Mr.  Boone,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  warning  he  declared  to  have  received,  had  returned 
home  to  appear  before  them  and  make  good  the  charges 
he  had  presented  in  his  petition  to  the  Proprietors.  They 
framed  questions  to  be  propounded  to  him.  (1)  Did  he 
own  to  the  petition  ?  (2)  When  he  was  in  England  how 
came  he  to  know  that  this  province  was  in  great  danger 
(as  set  forth)  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  French 
and  Spaniards,  by  the  ill  administration  of  the  Governor  ? 
(3)  To  inform  the  House  what  constitutions  were  in  force 
by  laws  of  the  province  ?  (4)  How  he  made  out  that  the 
Governor  had  no  other  reason  to  dissolve  the  Assembly 
than  the  reason  he  set  forth  in  his  petition  ?  (5)  How 
he  made  out  that  the  act  for  continuing  an  Assembly  for 
two  years,  etc.,  was  thought  proper  for  the  Governor's 
arbitrary  purposes ;  and  so  destructive  to  the  people's 
freedom?  (6)  Which  of  the  most  considerable  free- 
holders and  merchants  had  sent  him  to  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors ?  (7)  Which  and  what  elections  had  been  invaded 
and  managed  with  partiality?  (8)  By  whom  had  the 
Indians  been  inhumanly  treated  and  abused  ?  ^ 

Mr.  Boone  refused  to  submit  himself  to  this  examination. 
He  first  claimed  exemption  as  deputy  of  the  infant  Pro- 
prietor Blake,  but  the  other  deputies  refused  to  recognize 
him  as  such  deputy.  Upon  this  he  left  the  town,  and 
escaped  the  Messenger  of  the  House  sent  to  bring  him 
before  that  body. 

Mr.  Boone  having  escaped  their  examination,  the  Assem- 
bly thus  addressed  the  Governor :  ^  — 

1  MSS.  Commons  Journal,  October  29,  1709. 
2Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  85. 


468  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

"  AVe  the  Commons  now  met  at  Charles  Town  do  return  your 
Honour  our  sincere  and  hearty  thanks  for  that  excellent  Speech  you 
made,  and  delivered  to  us,  at  the  opening  of  this  present  Session,  and 
are  truly  sensible  of  your  Honour's  paternal  care  over  this  province 
during  the  whole  course  of  your  government ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  infirmities  of  age  and  sickness,  your  zeal  for  the  public  good  in 
Church  and  State  hath  surmounted  your  particular  ease  and  tranquil- 
lity, and  you  have  undergone  the  fatigue  with  such  cheerfulness  and 
presence  of  mind,  that  it  hath  highly  encouraged  the  inhabitants  of 
this  Colony  to  follow  your  good  and  well  grounded  examples  and  reso- 
lutions and  cheerfully  to  undergo  the  troubles  and  expenses  they  have 
been  at,  in  order  to  defend  themselves  against  the  common  enemy 
now  in  this  time  of  war.  But  when  we  come  to  that  part  of  your 
Honour's  Speech  wherein  you  are  pleased  to  give  us  an  account  of  your 
Honour's  being  shortly  to  resign  the  government,  it  strikes  us  with  the 
greatest  concern  and  sorrow  for  the  approaching  loss  of  so  good  a 
Governor,  and  with  the  greatest  wonder  to  know  the  reason  of  such 
a  change,  the  administration  of  your  government  being  always  just 
and  easy,  and  all  your  actions  tending  to  the  good  of  this  Colony,  so 
that  when  the  government  shall  come  to  be  out  of  your  hands,  we 
shall  (with  much  sorrow)  look  upon  it  to  be  the  greatest  loss  that 
could  happen  to  this  thriving  Colony.  In  the  next  place  we  cannot 
but  take  notice  of  that  false  and  scandalous  Petition  to  the  Proprietors 
of  this  Colony  wherein  there  has  been  so  much  pains  taken  to  set  forth 
your  Honour's  actions  in  the  blackest  and  bitterest  manner ;  and  do 
assure  your  Honour  that  we  will  use  our  utmost  endeavor  to  know  the 
truth  of  that  petition  by  examining  the  author  of  it,  and  doubt  not 
but  to  find  it  so  false  in  every  respect  as  to  cause  us  to  pi-oclaim  your 
Honour  innocent  by  a  vote  of  our  House  and  that  future  ages  may  see 
that  what  is  therein  contained  is  false,  give  it  room  to  be  entered  as 
such  in  the  journals  of  our  House. 

"  We  do  therefore  with  all  due  respect  render  and  return  our  grateful 
acknowledgments  as  well  for  what  service  your  Honour  hath  already 
rendered  this  Colony,  and  for  your  earnest  desire  to  settle  the  Church  of 
England  as  now  by  law  established,  and  also  for  the  assurance  you  are 
pleased  to  give  us  of  continuing  your  provident  care  in  promoting  the 
good  of  this  Colony  when  you  shall  be  out  of  the  government." 

On  November  5,  the  Assembly  also  addressed  the  Lords 
Proprietors :  ^  — 

.     1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  87. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  469 

"We  your  Lords  most  Obedient  and  dutiful  servants,  the  Com- 
mons, at  this  present  Assembly  convened,  have  the  freedom  and 
liberty  to  acquaint  your  Lordships  that  at  the  opening  of  this  Session 
the  Right  Hon :  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  Kn*,  Governor  of  this  your 
Lordships  Province  recommended  to  us  in  his  Speech  amongst  other 
things,  the  examination  of  a  certain  petition  or  memorial  said  to  be 
lately  presented  to  your  Lordships  by  Mr.  Joseph  Boone  against 
him  requesting  our  strictest  scrutiny  therein,  and  such  report 
thereof  as  should  be  agreeable  to  truth,  and  the  Honour  and  Justice 
of  a  House  of  Commons.  Accordingly  (may  it  please  your  Lord- 
ships) we  have  taken  the  subject  of  that  Petition  into  due  considera- 
tion and  though  by  the  certainty  of  our  own  experience  and 
knowledge  we  can  and  do  from  our  consciences  acquit  our  Excellent 
Governor  of  the  maladministration  thereby  charged  on  him,  yet 
to  pursue  the  fairness  of  his  request  and  to  take  off  all  umbrages 
of  partiality  in  the  proceeding,  but  more  especially  to  disabuse  your 
Lordships  and  vindicate  the  injured  character  and  reputation  of  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson  we  Resolved  to  send  for  Mr.  Joseph  Boone  and 
to  examine  him  before  a  Grand  committee  of  our  whole  House  on 
the  particulars  of  that  Petition,  and  to  that  end  framed  a  previous 
draft  of  the  most  pertinent  questions  to  ask  him,  intending  him  all 
necessary  countenance  and  liberty  to  prove  and  make  good  his 
charge. 

"  But  (my  Lords)  before  matters  were  brought  to  this  conclusion 
Mr.  Boone  (by  some  means  unknown  to  us)  coming  to  the  know- 
ledge of  our  design  and  being  conscious  of  his  own  guilt  and  inability 
to  maintain  his  accusation,  made  an  interest  (as  we  understand)  with 
Madam  Blake  (the  young  Proprietor  Blake's  mother)  to  be  appointed 
his  representative  in  Council  therehy  to  shelter  himself  from  our 
House,  and  avoid  the  examination ;  for  when  our  messenger  required 
his  attendance  before  us  and  gave  him  notice  of  our  Resolutions  he 
answered  him  that  he  would  not  appear  before  us,  because  it  inter- 
fered with  his  privilege  and  the  honour  of  the  Upper  House.  And 
when  afterwards  (by  an  express  answer  of  your  Lordships  Deputies) 
we  were  assured  that  he  was  not  a  member  of  that  honourable  number 
or  admitted  amongst  them  through  the  defect  of  some  necessary  quali- 
fications we  again  sent  for  him,  he  most  industriously  avoided  both 
our  messenger,  and  his  own  house  at  Charles  Town,  and  imme- 
diately by  a  hasty  retreat  or  rather  flight  into  the  country  made  it 
impossible  ever  since  either  to  see  or  speak  with  him.  Whereupon 
we  voted  Mr.  Boone's  refusing  to  appear  before  us  to  be  a  contempt 


470  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

of  the  authority  of  our  House  and  ordered  our  messenger  to  take 
him  into  custody  to  answer  that  contempt  at  the  Bar  of  our  House. 
And  because  he  declined  to  prove  and  make  good  before  us,  the 
articles  in  his  Petition  charged  against  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  we 
have  voted  that  Petition  or  Memorial  which  the  said  Boone  pre- 
sented to  your  Lordships  to  be  false  and  scandalous,  tending  to  cre- 
ate much  jealousy  and  difference  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Colony,  and  highly  dishonourable  to  our  governor.  And  in  order  to 
give  your  Lordships  a  more  particular  and  nearer  view  herein,  we 
have  caused  exact  copies  of  the  whole  proceedings  to  be  annexed  to 
and  accompany  this  address.  This  (my  Lords)  is  all  we  apprehend 
necessary  to  be  done  in  this  affair  at  this  time,  and  which  we  humbly 
submit  to  your  Lordships  judgment  and  consideration,  professing  to 
your  Lordships  not  only  that  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  in  that  scandal- 
ous Petition  of  Mr.  Boone's  is  most  falsely  and  barbarously  traduced, 
but  that  we  are  all  satisfied  with  his  mild  and  easy  government,  and 
fully  convinced  that  (under  God)  we  owe  the  preservation  of  our 
lives  and  interests  in  this  province  to  his  personal  courage,  conduct 
and  excellent  administration.  And  at  the  same  time  acknowledge 
to  your  Lordships  the  great  favour  you  have  done  us,  not  only  in 
appointing  so  worthy  a  person  for  our  governor  (and  that  at  a  time 
when  our  circumstances  stood  in  need  of  a  soldier  of  his  ability  and 
experience)  but  also  for  continuing  his  authority  so  long  amongst 
us ;  in  the  whole  course  of  whose  judicious  management,  Your  Lord- 
ships privileges,  and  our  rights  were  so  well  secured  and  so  dis- 
creetly tempered  that  they  mutually  supporting  each  other  were  both 
presei'ved. 

"  This  my  Lords,  and  a  great  deal  more  (in  common  justice  and 
gratuity)  we  owe  and  shall  be  ever  ready  to  pay  to  the  memory  of 
Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  and  hope  it  will  never  be  in  the  power  of  any 
ill  meaning  malignant  persons  to  impress  your  Lordships  to  his  dis- 
advantage." 

This  address  was  signed  by  James  Risbee,  Speaker. 

The  necessity  of  some  Episcopal  supervision  over  the 
clergy  sent  to  America  was  pressing  in  all  the  colonies.^ 
The  need  of  a  bishop  was  urged  by  the  missionaries  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  upon  their 
first  arrival.  They  appealed  for  "  a  suffragan  to  visit  the 
1  Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Church,,  vol.  Ill,  70-75. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  471 

several  churches ;  ordain  some,  confirm  others,  and  bless 
all."  Governor  Nicholson,  then  Governor  of  Virginia, 
whose  interest  in  the  church  was  undoubted,  expressed  in 
a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  his  conviction 
"  that  unless  a  bishop  be  sent  in  a  short  time  the  Church 
of  England  will  rather  diminish  than  increase  in  North 
America."  Dean  Swift  sought  to  avail  himself  of  this 
sentiment,  and  was  intriguing  for  "the  bishoprick  of 
Virginia."  ^  The  claim  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
London  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  in  the  colon ies.^  This 
jurisdiction  the  Bishop  of  London  exercised  to  a  very 
limited  extent  in  some  of  the  colonies  by  the  appointment 
of  presbyters  as  assistants,  known  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land as  commissaries.^  But  these  officers  could  exercise  no 
other  than  administrative  functions.  The}'-  had  the  over- 
sight of  the  clergy  and  people,  but  could  not  consecrate,  or- 
dain, or  confirm.  Two  very  able  men  occupied  the  position, 
one  in  Virginia  and  the  other  in  Maryland.  In  the  former 
was  James  Blair,  the  founder  of  the  William  and  Mary 
College,  and  in  the  latter  was  Dr.  Thomas  Bray.  In  ac- 
cepting the  appointment,  which  he  did  at  no  little  social 
and  pecuniary  sacrifice.  Dr.  Bray  made  as  a  condition  the 
provision   of    parochial   libraries   for   the    ministers   who 

1  Swift's  works  (Scott's  ed.),  vol.  I,  98 ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  90 ;  Hist. 
Am.  Episcopal  Ch.,  vol.  I,  398. 

2  Hist.  Am.  Episcopal  Ch.,  vol.  I,  399. 

3  The  commissary  was  an  officer  in  the  Chnrch  of  England  whose  office 
was  probably  derived  from  the  chorepiscopi  of  the  ancient  church.  These 
were  supposed  to  be  mere  presbyters,  assistants  to  the  bishops  whose  dio- 
ceses were  enlarged  by  the  conversion  of  the  Pagans  in  the  country. 
Bingham,  Antiq.,  vol.  I,  56.  Commissary  is  a  title  of  jurisdiction  per- 
taining to  him  that  exerciseth  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  in  places  of  the 
diocese  so  far  distant  that  the  chancellor  cannot  call  the  people  to  the 
bishop's  principal  consistory  court  without  great  trouble  to  them .  Burns's 
Ecclesiastical  Laic,  vol.  II,  7. 


472  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

should  be  sent  out  to  the  province.  It  was  by  means  of 
this  provision  that  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  secure  from 
among  the  unbeneficed  and  poorer  clergy  studious  and 
sober  men  to  undertake  the  service  of  the  church  in 
America.^  The  establishment  of  these  libraries  was  not 
confined  to  Maryland,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  books  were 
sent  to  South  Carolina,  as  well  as  to  other  provinces.  It 
was  upon  one  of  these  parochial  libraries  of  Dr.  Bray  that 
the  Provincial  Library  was  founded  in  1698,  a  lay  library 
being  added  thereto,  as  before  stated. 

The  church  having  been  now  established  with  eight 
clergymen  resident  in  the  province,^  ten  parishes  laid  out, 
and  six  more  churches  provided  to  be  built  under  the 
act  of  1706,  the  Bishop  of  London  determined  to  appoint 
and  send  out  a  commissary  for  South  Carolina.  In  1707 
the  Rev.  Gideon  Johnson,  A.M.,  was  recommended  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  as  worthy  of  his  appointment  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  others.  The  Bishop  of  London, 
satisfied  with  the  character  and  attainments  of  Mr.  John- 
son, appointed  him  his  commissary  and  sent  him  to  Charles 
Town.  The  Lords  Proprietors  wrote,  on  March  2,  1707- 
1708,  informing  the  Governor  of  the  appointment,  that 
Mr.  Johnson  had  sailed,  and  they  hoped  that  according 
to  the  Lord  Bishop's  recommendation  he  had  been  chosen 
minister  for  Charles  Town. 

After  a  tedious  passage  Mr.  Johnson  arrived  off  the 
harbor;  but  the  ship  not  being  able  to  cross  until  a  suc- 
ceeding tide,  the  commissary,  impatient  of  the  delay  and 
anxious  to  reach  his  charge,  ventured  in  a  small  sloop 
with   three   other    passengers   to   proceed   to   town.       It 

1  HUt.  Am.  Episcopal  Ch.  (Bishop  Perry),  vol.  I,  138. 

2  These  were  the  Reverends  Atkin  Williamson,  Edward  Marston, 
William  Corbin,  Philip  de  Richbourg,  M.  de  La  Pierre,  Thomas  Hasell, 
Richard  Marsden,  and  Francis  Le  Jau.     Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  432. 


UNDKIl   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  473 

happened  that  soon  after  leaving  the  ship,  a  sudden 
squall  drove  the  sloop  ashore  upon  "  a  sandy  island,"  ^ 
where  they  remained,  it  is  said,  twelve  days  before  they 
were  discovered  by  the  boats  sent  to  their  relief.^  The 
ship,  waiting  for  a  tide  to  cross,  did  not  reach  the  town  for 
some  days  after.  When  it  was  learned,  upon  her  arrival, 
that  Mr.  Johnson  had  attempted  to  reach  the  city,  and 
had  not  done  so,  sloops,  boats,  and  canoes  were  sent  in 
search  of  the  missing  clergyman.  In  the  meanwhile,  the 
party  had  suffered  miserably  for  the  want  of  shelter  and 
food.  One  of  them,  a  sailor,  attempting  to  swim  to  the 
mainland  was  drowned ;  Mr.  Johnson's  health,  which  was 
not  strong,  was  seriously  injured  by  the  exposure. 

Disheartened  and  discouraged  by  this  untoward  entrance 
upon  his  work,  and  finding,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
exert  himself,  that  a  party  had  been  raised  by  one  Richard 
Marsden,  who  had  imposed  himself  upon  the  people  as  a 
clergyman  in  good  standing,  to  keep  him  out  of  his 
promised  benefice  ;  denied  an  entrance  into  his  '*  parsonage 
house,"  finding,  as  he  alleged,  no  respect  paid  to  his  offi- 
cial character,  nor  to  the  pledges  and  promises  made  to  him 
by  the  authorities,  both  of  Church  and  State,  at  home,  — 
the  good  man  in  despair  wrote  to  the  "  Great  Bishop  "  who 
had  sent  him  and  with  whom  he  corresponded:  "I  never 
repented  so  much  of  anything,  my  sins  only  excepted,  as 
my  coming  to  this  place,  nor  has  any  man  been  treated 
with  less  humanity  and  compassion  considering  how  much 
I  had  suffered  in  my  passage  than  I  have  since  my  arrival 
in  it."  3 

1  This  we  suppose  to  have  been  Morris  Island.  Had  it  been  Sullivan's 
Island,  the  name  would  probably  have  been  given,  as  it  was  then  well 
established. 

2  Dalcho  gives  the  time  of  their  detention  on  the  island  as  but  two 
days,  —  which  is  the  more  probable.  But  Bishop  Perry  quotes  the  letter 
as  given  in  the  text. 

^  Hist.  Am.  Episcopal  Ch.,  vol.  I,  378. 


474  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Mr.  Johnson  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the  contentions  over 
the  church  acts.  In  feeble  health,  with  a  large  family,  he 
found  the  cost  of  living  in  the  province  greater,  he  com- 
plained, than  in  England  or  Ireland,  and  for  this  his  stipend 
was  insufficient.  But  above  all  he  was  distressed  at  the 
factious  opposition  at  the  hands  of  a  brother  clergyman. 
This  last  difficulty  was,  however,  soon  overcome  and 
Mr.  Johnson  was  duly  installed  as  rector  of  St.  Philip's 
Church.  It  has  been  said  that  Commissary  Johnson's 
humility  and  prudence  softened  the  asperity  of  opposing 
interests  in  the  colony,  and  that  ultimately  his  piety  pro- 
cured him  the  love  and  esteem  of  all.^  But  Mr.  Johnson's 
private  letters  to  the  authorities  in  England,  since  come 
to  light,  scarcely  sustain  this  character.  It  is  fortunate 
that  the  people  over  whom  he  came  to  minister  did  not 
know  of  the  impression  he  had  formed  and  of  the  opinion 
of  them  he  had  hastened  to  express  upon  his  first  arrival. 
He  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  London  i^  — 

"  The  people  here  generally  speaking  are  the  vilest  race  of  men 
upon  the  earth.  They  have  neither  honor,  nor  honesty,  nor  religion 
enough  to  entitle  them  to  any  tolerable  character,  being  a  perfect 
medley  or  hotch-potch,  made  up  of  bankrupt  pirates,  decayed  liber- 
tines, secretaries  and  enthusiasts  of  all  sorts  who  have  transported 
themselves  hither  from  Bermudas,  Jamaica,  Barbadoes,  Montserat, 
Antego,  Nevis,  New  England,  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  and  are  the  most 
factious  and  seditious  people  in  the  whole  world.  Many  of  those  that 
pretend  to  be  churchmen  are  strongly  crippled  in  their  goings  between 
the  Church  and  Presbytery,  and  as  they  are  of  large  and  loose  prin- 
ciples so  they  live  and  act  accordingly  sometimes  going  openly  with 
the  Dissenters,  as  they  now  do  against  the  church,  and  giving  incredible 
trouble  to  the  Governor  and  clergy." 

This  letter  scarcely  breathes  a  spirit  of  humility  or 
Christian  charity,  and  even  allowing,  as  we  should  do,  for 

»  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  79. 

a  Hist.  Am.  Episcopal  Ch. ,  vol.  I,  379. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  475 

the  untoward  events  of  his  arrival,  there  is  a  bitterness 
and  contempt  in  it  scarcely  compatible  with  the  character 
of  meekness  and  lovingkindness  which  should  adorn  one 
of  his  profession.  Like  Marston,  too,  it  appeai-s  that  he 
opposed  and  criticised  the  government,  even  when  admin- 
istered by  so  good  a  Governor  as  Craven.  In  a  letter  from 
Carolina  in  1715,  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  George 
Rodd,  Attorney  General,  the  writer  declares  his  surprise 
that  the  Lords  Proprietoi-s  should  favor  that  pei*son  (Par- 
son Johnson)  with  the  most  valuable  place  under  their 
donation  "  that  openly  &  daily  affronts  and  writes  against 
the  gov."  ^  The  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  would, 
no  doubt,  have  been  pronounced  a  libel  by  either 
party  which  for  the  time  happened  to  be  in  control, 
and  such,  indeed,  it  was.  Smith,  or  Risbee  either,  would 
have  summoned  the  reverend  gentleman  before  the  bar 
of  the  House,  to  answer  for  its  aspei-sions,  had  it  fallen  into 
his  hands.  There  was,  nevertheless,  a  grain  of  truth  in 
the  description  of  the  people.  They  were  "medley  or 
hotch-potch."  There  were  very  probably  persons  of  each 
of  the  classes  described.  There  was  a  large  leaven  of  the 
old  Puritan  factiousness ;  and  there  were  without  doubt 
many  churchmen  whose  religion  was  more  a  matter  of 
politics  and  association  than  of  earnest  conviction. 
There  were  probably  many  characteristics  of  a  newly 
formed  community  of  bold,  restless,  adventurous  men,  who 
had  thrown  off  the  restraints  and  decorum  of  an  old 
society,  and  had  not  yet  formed  another.  Deference  was 
not  likely  one  of  their  common  graces.  But  the  people 
generally  were  not  by  any  means  such  as  Mr.  Johnson 
in  the  bitterness  of  his  spirit  represented  them.  There 
were   many  earnest   Christian  men   in   the   colony,   Puri- 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  223 ;  Fiiblic  Becords;  Year  Book 
City  of  Charleston  (Ficken),  1894,  321. 


476  HISTORY   OF    SOCTTH   CAROLINA 

tan  as  well  as  churchmen.  If,  as  he  complained,  some 
of  the  churchmen  were  "so  strangely  crippled  in  their 
goings  between  the  Church  and  Presbytery,"  was  it  to  be 
wondered  at  when  there  was  no  bishop  in  America  to  con- 
firm? When  Marsden's  orders  were  denied,  and  Marston 
was  driving  the  members  of  the  church  from  its  doors,  was 
it  surprising  that  some  of  them  strayed  off  to  the  White 
Meeting?  The  establishment  of  the  church  under  the 
circumstances  is  strong  evidence  that  there  were  earnest 
Christians  and  faithful  churchmen  in  the  colony.  There 
must  have  been  a  deep  religious  sentiment  in  a  people, 
who,  numbering  less  than  10,000  souls,  including  men, 
women,  and  children,  Indians  and  negroes,  bond  and  free, 
maintained  within  two  years,  as  we  shall  see,  from  the  time 
Mr.  Johnson  wrote  seventeen  ministers.^ 

The  religious  animosities  and  strifes  in  the  colony  were 
but  the  counterpart  of  those  in  England  at  the  time. 
They  all,  indeed,  originated  in  the  mother  country.  They 
were  not  indigenous  to  the  province  of  Carolina. 

Another  storm  of  popular  religious  passion  was  just 
about  to  burst  on  the  Whigs  in  England  over  "a  dull 
and  silly  sermon  "  of  one  Dr.  Sacheverell,  a  High  Church 
divine,  for  which  the  Whigs  unwisely  attempted  to  im- 
peach the  author,  —  a  political  blunder  as  great  as  that 
of  the  Tories  in  1704,  when  they  attempted  to  tack  the 
bill  against  "  occasional  conformity  "  upon  a  supply  bill, 
necessary  for  the  continuance  of  the  war  which  was  then 
popular.  But  political  sentiment  had  now  again  changed, 
and  an  outburst  of  popular  enthusiasm  in  Sacheverell's 
favor  showed  what  a  storm  of  hatred  had  gathered  against 
the  Whigs  and  the  war.^ 

1  Howe's  Hist.  Presb.  Ch.,  163. 

*  Green's  Hist.  English  People,  vol.  IV,  97. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

1710-11 

Jtjst  before  Governor  Johnson's  removal,  he  had  been 
called  upon  by  the  Royal  Government  for  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  condition  of  the  province.  In  answer  to  this 
an  elaborate  and  carefully  prepared  report  was  made. 
This  paper  is  of  so  much  value  and  its  account  so  suc- 
cinctly given  that,  following  Rivers,  we  shall  not  attempt 
to  abbreviate,  but  will  give  it  in  full.^  The  letter  is 
dated  the  17th  of  September,  1708,  and  is  signed  by  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson,  Thomas  B rough  ton,  Robert  Gibbes, 
George  Smith,  and  Richard  Berresford. 

"  We,  the  Grovernor  and  council,"  said  they,  "  in  obedience  to  her 
sacred  Majestys  command  and  your  Lordships  instructions,  have 
carefully  inquired  into  the  present  circumstances  of  the  province,  etc. 

"  The  number  of  inhabitants  in  this  province  of  all  sorts,  are  com- 
puted to  be  9,580  souls ;  of  which  there  are  1,360  free  men,  900  free 
women,  60  white  servant  men,  60  white  servant  women,  1700  white 
free  children,  1,800  negro  men  slaves,  1,100  women  negro  slaves,  500 
Indian  men  slaves,  600  Indian  women  slaves,  1,200  negro  children 
slaves,  and  300  Indian  children  slaves. 

"  The  freemen  of  this  province,  by  reason  of  the  late  sickness 
brought  hither  from  other  parts,  though  now  very  healthy,  and  small 
supply  from  other  parts,  are  within  these  five  years  last  past  decreased 
about  100,  free  women  about  40 ;  white  servants,  from  the  aforesaid 
reasons,  and  having  completed  their  servitude,  are  decreased  50 ; 
white  servant  women,  for  the  same  reasons,  are  decreased  30 ;  white 
children  are  increased  500;  negro  men  slaves  by  importation,  300; 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  231. 

477 


478  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

negro  women  slaves,  200.  Indian  men  slaves,  by  reason  of  our  late 
conquest  over  the  French  and  Spaniards,  and  the  success  of  our 
forces  against  the  Appalaskys  and  other  Indian  engagements,  are 
within  these  five  years  increased  to  the  number  of  400,  and  the  Indian 
women  slaves  to  450;  negro  children  to  600,  and  Indian  children  to 
200. 

"  The  whole  number  of  the  militia  of  this  province,  950  white  men,  \ 
fit  to  bear  arms,  viz  :  2  Regiments  of  foot,  both  making  up  16  com- 
panies, 50  men,  one  with  another,  in  a  company ;  to  which  might  be 
added  a  like  number  of  negro  men  slaves,  the  captain  of  each  com- 
pany being  obliged  by  an  act  of  assembly,  to  enlist,  train  up  and 
bring  into  the  field  for  each  white,  one  able  slave  armed  with  a  gun 
or  lance,  for  each  man  in  his  company ;  and  the  governor's  troop  of 
guards,  consisting  of  about  forty  men  ;  the  colonel,  lieutenant  colonel, 
captain,  cornet,  and  two  exempts,  together  with  nine  patrols,  ten  men 
in  each  patrol,  to  take  care  of  the  women  and  children,  in  case  of  an 
alarm  and  invasion ;  French  Protestants,  and  independent  company 
of  Santee,  consisting  of  forty-five  men,  and  a  patrol  of  ten  men. 

"  The  commodities  exported  from  this  province  to  England,  are 
rice,  pitch,  tar,  buck  and  doeskins  in  the  hair,  and  Indian  dressed ; 
also,  some  few  furs,  as  beaver,  otter,  wildcat,  racoon,  a  little  silk, 
white  oak,  pike  staves  and  sometimes  some  other  sorts. 

"  We  are  sufficiently  provided  with  timber  fit  for  masts  and  yards 
of  several  sizes,  both  pine  and  cypress,  which  may  be  exported  very 
reasonable,  and  supplied  at  all  times  of  the  year,  there  being  no  frost 
or  snow^  considerable  enough  to  hinder  bringing  them  down  the 
river. 

"  Other  commodities,  not  the  produce  of  the  place,  but  brought 
here  from  the  American  islands  and  exported  to  England,  are  logwood 
braziletto,  fustic,  cortex,  isleathera,  tortoiseshell,  ambergrease,  and 
cocoa. 

"  From  this  province  are  exported  to  several  of  the  American  islands, 
as  Jamaica,  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  Nevis,  St  Christopher's,  the  Virgin's, 
Montserrat,  and  the  Bahama  Islands  —  staves,  hooks  and  shingles, 
beef,  pork,  rice,  pitch,  tar,  green  wax,  candles  made  of  myrtle  berries, 
tallow  and  tallow  candles,  butter,  English  and  Indian  peas,  and  some- 
times a  small  quantity  of  tanned  leather. 

"  Goods  imported  from  the  foregoing  islands  are,  rum,  sugar, 
molasses,  cotton,  fustic,  braziletto,  isleathera,  ambergrease,  tortoise- 
shell,  salt,  and  pimento ;  logwood  is  generally  brought  from  the  Bay 
of  Campeachy. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  479 

"We  are  also  often  furnished  with  negroes  from  the  American 
Islands,  chiefly  from  Barbadoes  and  Jamaica;  from  whence  also  comes 
a  considerable  quantity  oi  English  manufactures,  and  Some  prize 
goods  viz.  claret,  brandy  &ct,  taken  from  the  French  and  Spaniards. 

"  We  have  also  commerce  with  Boston,  Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania, 
New  York  and  Virginia;  to  which  place,  we  export  Indian  slaves,  light 
deerskins  dressed,  some  tanned  leather,  pitch,  tar,  and  a  small  quantity 
of  rice.  From  thence  we  receive  beer,  cider,  flour,  dry  codfish  and 
mackerel ;  and  from  Virginia  some  European  commodities. 

"  Further  we  have  a  trade  to  the  Madeiras  (from  whence  we  receive 
most  of  our  wines)  also  to  St  Thomas  and  Cura9oa,  to  which  places  we 
send  the  same  commodities  as  to  the  other  islands,  excepting  pitch, 
tar,  and  rice,  lately  prohibited,  which  prohibition  is  very  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  trade  in  these  parts. 

"  The  trade  of  this  province  is  certainly  increased  of  late  years, 
there  being  a  greater  consumption  yearly  of  most  commodities  im- 
ported. And  the  inhabitants,  by  a  yearly  addition  of  slaves  are  made 
the  more  capable  of  improving  the  produce  of  the  colony.  Notwith- 
standing it  Is  our  opinion,  that  the  value  of  our  import  is  greater  (if 
we  include  our  negroes)  than  our  export,  by  which  means  it  comes  to 
pass  that  we  are  very  near  drained  of  all  our  silver  and  gold  coin ; 
nor  is  there  any  remedy  to  prevent  this,  but  by  a  number  of  honest 
laborious  persons  to  come  among  us,  that  would  consume  but  little, 
by  which  means  the  produce  of  the  country  being  increased  might  in 
time  make  our  exportation  equalize  if  not  exceed  our  importation. 

"  That  which  has  been  a  considerable  though  unavoidable  hindrance 
to  the  greater  increase  of  our  trade,  is  the  great  duty  on  goods,  both 
imported,  and  exported,  occasioned  by  the  debts,  the  country  is  in- 
volved in,  by  the  late  expedition,  in  the  time  of  Governor  Moore 
against  St  Augustine,  and  the  charge  in  fortifying  Charles  Town  this 
time  of  war  and  danger;  to  which  may  very  justly  be  added  the  late 
prohibition  of  pitch,  tar,  and  rice. 

"  There  are  not  above  ten  or  twelve  sail  of  ships  belonging  to  this 
province,  about  half  of  which  number  were  built  here,  besides  a  ship 
and  sloop  now  on  the  stocks ;  neither  are  there  above  twenty  seafar- 
ing men  who  may  be  properly  accounted  settlers  or  livers  in  the 
province. 

"  There  are  not  as  yet  any  manufactures  settled  in  the  province, 
saving  some  particular  planters,  who  for  their  own  use,  make  a  few 
stuffs  of  silk  and  cotton,  and  a  sort  of  cloth  of  cotton  and  wool  of 
their  own  growth  to  clothe  their  slaves. 


480  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

"  All  possible  precautions  are  taken  by  this  government  to  prevent 
illegal  trade,  the  acts  of  trade,  and  navigation  being  strictly  enforced 
on  all  occasions. 

"And  nov7  having  answered  the  several  queries  stated  to  us  by 
your  lordships,  in  the  best  manner  we  are  at  present  capable  of,  we 
humbly  crave  leave  to  superadd  an  account  of  the  Indians  our  allies, 
our  trade  and  commerce,  with  one  another  and  their  consumption 
of  our  goods,  together  with  the  present  circumstances  of  Charles  Town, 
and  our  new  triangular  fort  and  platform  at  Windmill  Point,  with  an 
account  of  what  provisions  we  want,  to  make  them  complete  fortifica- 
tions. 

"The  Indians  under  the  protection  of  his  [her?]  majestys  govern- 
ment are  numerous,  and  may  be  of  great  use  in  time  of  invasion. 
The  nations  we  have  trade  with  are  as  follows.  The  Yamassees, 
situated  about  80  to  100  miles  south  from  Charles  Town  ;  they  con- 
sist of  about  500  men  able  to  bear  arms ;  they  are  become  great 
warriors,  and  are  continually  annoying  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Indians 
their  allies. 

"To  the  Southward  of  the  Yamassees  are  a  small  nation  called 
Paleachuckles,  in  number  about  80  men.  They  are  settled  in  a  town 
about  20  miles  up  the  Savannah  River,  and  are  very  serviceable  in 
furnishing  with  provisions  the  Englishmen  who  go  up  that  river  in 
periangers  with  a  supply  of  goods  for  the  Indians,  and  bring  skins 
for  them. 

"About  150  miles  southwest  from  Charles  Town,  is  settled,  on  the 
aforesaid  river  a  nation  of  Indians  called  the  Savannahs.  They  are 
seated  in  three  towns  and  consist  of  about  150  men.  A  few  miles  dis- 
tant on  the  said  River  is  a  considerable  town  of  Indians  that  deserted 
the  Spaniards,  and  came  with  our  forces  from  them  about  five  years 
past.  They  are  known  by  the  name  of  Apalachys,  and  are  about  250 
men,  and  behave  themselves  very  submissive  to  this  government. 
These  people  are  situated  very  advantageous  for  trade.  Indians 
seated  upwards  of  700  miles  off  are  supplied  with  goods  by  our  white 
men,  who  transport  them  from  this  river  upon  Indians  backs. 

"About  150  miles  westward  are  settled  on  Ochasee  River  eleven 
towns  of  Indians,  consisting  of  600  men,  among  whom  are  several 
families  of  the  aforesaid  Apalachys.  These  people  are  great  warriors 
and  hunters,  and  consume  great  quantities  of  English  goods. 

"  About  150  miles  west  from  these  people  on  the  Chocta-Kuchy 
River  there  is  a  town  of  Indians  settled  for  carrying  on  trade  who  are 
very  serviceable  on  that  account.     These  people   are  seated   about 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  481 

midway  between  Ochasee  River  and  the  settlements  of  the  Talla- 
bousies  and  the  Attalbanees.  They  have  many  towns  and  consist  of  at 
least  1300  men,  are  great  warriors,  and  trade  with  this  government  for 
great  quantities  of  goods. 

"  About  200  miles  from  the  Tallabousies  and  the  Attalbanees  west- 
ward, lie  the  nations  of  Indians  called  the  Chickysaws,  who  are  at 
least  in  number  600  men.^  These  Indians  are  stout  and  warlike.  They 
are  divided  part  in  the  English  interest  and  part  in  the  French^ 
There  is  a  factory  settled  by  those  French  about  four  days  journey 
down  that  river  whereon  the  Tallabousies  and  Attalbanees  live. 

"  We  have  but  few  skins  or  furs  from  the  Chickysaws,  they  living 
so  distant  it  will  hardly  answer  the  carriage.^  Slaves  is  what  we  have 
in  exchange  for  our  goods,  which  these  people  take  from  several 
nations  of  Indians  that  live  beyond  them. 

"  The  Cherokee  Indians  live  about  250  miles  northwest  from  our 
settlements,  on  a  ridge  of  mountains ;  they  are  a  numerous  people,  but 
very  lazy;  they  are  settled  in  60  towns  and  are  at  least  500  men.  The 
trade  we  have  with  them  is  inconsiderable,  they  being  but  ordinary 
hunters  and  less  warriors. 

"  There  are  several  nations  of  Indians  that  inhabit  to  the  northward 
of  us  ;  our  trade  as  yet  with  them  is  not  nmch,  but  we  are  in  hopes  to 
improve  it  very  shortly. 

"  From  the  aforesaid  several  nations  of  Indians  are  brought  and 
shipped  for  England,  one  year  with  another,  at  least  50,000  skins; 
to  purchase  which  requires  at  least  £2500  or  £3000 — first  cost  of  goods 
in  England.  The  goods  proper  for  a  trade  with  the  Indians  are 
English  cottons,  broadcloth  of  several  colors,  duffels  blue  and  red, 
beads  of  several  sorts  and  sizes,  axes,  hoes,  falchions,  small  fusee  guns, 
powder,  bullets,  and  small  shot. 

"  St.  Augustine,  a  Spanish  garrison  being  planted  to  the  Southward 
of  us  about  100  leagues  makes  Carolina  a  frontier  to  all  the  English 
settlements  on  the  main,"  etc. 

Two  years  subsequent  to  this  report,  i.e.  1710,  the  whites 
in  the  colony  were  computed  to  be  12  of  the  whole  inhabi- 
tants ;  Indian  subjects,  QQ ;  and  negro  slaves,  22.  Of  the 
whites  again,  the  planters  were  70 ;  merchants,  about  13 ; 
and  artisans,  17.  With  regard  to  religion,  the  Episcopal 
party  were  42 ;  the   Presbyterians,  including 

2i 


482  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

who  retained  their  own  discipline,  45 ;  the  Anabaptists, 
10 ;  and  the  Quakers,  3. 

The  prices  of  daily  labor  in  currency  of  the  colony 
were,  —  for  a  tailor,  5s. ;  a  bricklayer,  6s. ;  a  cooper,  4s. ; 
carpenters  and  joiners  from  3s.  to  5s. ;  a  laborer,  Is.  Sd.  to 
2s.  with  food  and  lodgings.  Overseers  of  planters  received 
from  ^15  to  X40  per  annum,  and  persons  engaged  to  trade 
with  Indians  from  <£20  to  <£100  per  annum.  ^ 

Taxes  were  raised  for  extraordinary  purposes  from  real 
and  personal  estate,  and  generally  from  imports  of  wines, 
liquors,  sugar,  molasses,  flour,  biscuits,  negro  slaves,  etc. ; 
dry  goods  imported  paid  3  per  cent,  and  deerskins  exported 
M.  per  skin.  The  duties  amounted  to  about  ^4500  per 
annum,  which  was  then  XIOOO  more  than  the  annual  ex- 
penses of  the  government. 

The  expenses  consisted  of  XIOOO  for  ten  Church  of 
England  ministers ;  the  same  for  finishing  and  repairing 
fortifications;  X600  for  officers  and  soldiers  in  garrison; 
.£300  for  military  stores;  £250  for  the  Governor;  and 
£400  for  incidental  charges.  The  overplus  was  intended 
for  sinking  bills  of  credit.  These  estimates  were  in  cur- 
rency, and  so  must  be  reduced  by  one-third  in  estimating 
their  value  in  good  money ;  and  this,  calculated  upon  the 
present  currency,  will  make  the  items,  probably,  nearly  as 
follows:  the  church,  from  113,000  to  |16,000 ;  fortifica- 
tions the  same ;  officers  and  soldiers  from  14000  to  -$5000  ; 
Governors  from  $2500  to  13000 ;  military  stores,  12000  to 
i2500 ;  and  incidental  charges  from  15000  to  16000. 

The  bills  just  mentioned  were  first  issued  for  X6000  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  expedition  to  St.  Augustine  in 
1703,  and  bore  twelve  per  cent  interest.  To  offer  them  in 
payment  was  a  legal  tender,  and  if  refused,  the  creditor  lost 
his  claim  for  the  debt.  But  such  refusal  never  occurred, 
1  Carroll's  Coll,  vol.  II,  260;  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  239. 


UNDER   THE   I*ROPRIEtARY   GOVERNMENT  483 

for  the  paper  was  hoarded  for  the  sake  of  the  interest. 
An  addition  of  several  thousand  pounds  was  stamped, 
and  the  "old  currency"  exchanged  for  the  new,  which 
was  without  interest,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the  bills 
more  into  circulation,  and  to  save  the  treasury  from  ac- 
cumulating demands.  Notwithstanding  the  change,  the 
bills  remained  at  par  until  the  subsequent  issue  of  very 
large  amounts  caused  their  depreciation. ^  There  was  lit- 
tle coin  in  circulation  ;  and  of  the  little,  various  values  in 
colonial  paper  currency  were  attached  to  German,  Peru- 
vian, Mexican,  French,  and  Spanish  pieces  of  gold  and 
silver.  To  prevent  the  confusion  arising  from  the  dif- 
ferent rates  at  which  these  pieces  passed  in  the  differ- 
ent colonies,  a  uniform  value  was  affixed  to  them,  by  a 
proclamation  from  the  mother  country,  in  the  sixth  year 
of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  — 1707.  Hence  the  denomina- 
tion of  "  proclamation  money,"  the  standard  of  which  was 
£133  Qs.  Qd.  paper  currency  for  XlOO  sterling.^ 

The  commerce  between  South  Carolina  and  England 
employed,  on  an  average,  twenty-two  vessels  in  1710.  The 
manufactures  and  slaves  imported  were  only  in  part  paid 
for  by  returns  of  colonial  produce.  The  balance  was  re- 
quired by  the  merchants  in  spices  and  exchange  sold  in 
Charles  Town  at  fifty  per  cent  premium,  and  year  after 
year  still  higher.  But  the  Carolinians  held  a  monopoly  of 
rice,  which  was  soon  raised  to  four  times  its  former  price, 
and  other  produce  in  proportion  as  the  currency  depre- 

1  In  Governor  Glen's  Description  of  So.  Ca.,  he  states  that  in  1710 
there  was  not  much  English  money  among  the  colonists,  but  that  what 
they  had  passed  at  fifty  per  cent  advance,  the  rate  of  exchange  between 
South  Carolina  and  England  being  £150  currency  per  £100  sterling.. 

2  The  difference  must  be  borne  in  mind  between  proclamation  money 
and  currency.  The  former  was  in  foreign  coins,  the  value  of  which  was 
fixed  by  act  of  Queen  Anne,  1708.  The  latter  was  the  paper  money  of 
the  province.     See  Statutes,  vol.  II,  708,  709. 


484  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ciated.  The  merchants  of  London  began  now  to  become 
a  new  and  important  power  near  the  throne,  ever  watchful 
of  the  embarrassments  of  Carolina  and  prompt  to  com- 
plain of  the  maladministration  of  the  Lords  Proprietors. 

The  planters  sowed  rice  in  furrows  eighteen  inches 
apart,  about  a  peck  to  an  acre,  with  a  yield  of  thirty  to 
sixty  bushels.  It  was  cleaned  by  mills  turned  by  horses 
or  oxen.  The  lands,  after  a  few  years'  culture,  lay  fallow 
and  were  esteemed  excellent  pastures.  The  usual  yield  of 
corn  to  an  acre  was  from  eighteen  to  thirty  bushels,  with 
six  bushels  of  Lidian  peas  sown  among  it.  Besides  the 
great  herds  of  cattle  owned,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the 
planters,  swine  were  raised  in  great  numbers.  Orchards 
of  peaches  and  various  fruits,  forests  of  acorns,  and  mild 
winters  rendered  Carolina  more  abundant  in  stock  than 
any  other  English  colony. 

The  experience  of  forty  years  among  an  energetic  peo- 
ple, observes  Rivers,  from  whom  these  statistics  have  been 
taken,  had  drawn  from  forest,  field,  and  stream  the  same 
means  of  subsistence  which  we  now  enjoy.  All  the  arts 
of  peace  were  introduced,  and  education  and  religion  had 
become  matters  of  public  concern.  But  wars  and  pesti- 
lence, tempests  and  inundations,  had  not  spared  them;  and 
the  noise  of  political  strife,  which  disturbed  the  slumbers 
of  their  childhood,  had  now  attuned  itself  to  sounds  not 
unpleasant  to  their  ears.^ 

Colonel  Edward  Tynte  was  commissioned  Governor  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  on  December  9, 1708,  but  it  was 
more  than  a  year  after  that  he  came  out  and  entered  upon 
his  duties.  By  his  commission,  he  was  authorized  to  ap- 
point a  Deputy  Governor  or  Governors  in  South  or  North 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  239-242  ;  and  see  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  155-159;  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  160;  Statutes  of  So. 
Ca.,  vol.  II,  notes,  708-713. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  485 

Carolina.  He  was  authorized,  also,  to  sell  lands  in  fee  in 
either  colony  at  the  rate  of  £20  for  every  1000  acres,  with 
a  yearly  quit-rent  of  10s. 

By  his  instructions,  his  attention  was  particularly  called 
to  the  navigation  acts,  which  he  was  required  strictly  to 
enforce.  He  was  to  take  care  that  none  but  natives  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  or  born  in  her  Majesty's  plantations, 
should  sit  upon  juries  in  cases  relating  to  the  Queen's 
duties  or  forfeitures  of  goods  by  illegal  importations.  He 
should  give  notice  to  her  Majesty's  government  of  any 
attempted  disposition  of  right  of  property  to  any  other 
than  her  Majesty's  natural-born  subjects ;  to  take  care  that 
all  places  of  trusts  in  courts  of  law  or  connected  with  the 
treasury  should  be  in  the  hands  of  her  Majesty's  natural- 
born  subjects.  These  instructions  seem  aimed  at  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  Huguenots  from  these  positions  and  from 
rights  of  property  without  the  Royal  consent. 

By  additional  instructions,  his  attention  was  called  to  a 
modification  of  the  navigation  acts  by  which,  during  the 
war,  the  number  and  proportion  of  English  mariners  in 
each  ship  or  vessel  was  reduced  from  three-fourths  to  one- 
half. 

By  still  further  instructions  he  was  required  to  trans- 
mit to  the  Proprietors  for  their  approval  all  laws  passed. 
He  was  given  power,  with  the  consent  of  four  or  more 
deputies,  to  adjourn  or  dissolve  the  General  Assembly 
when  he  might  see  fit ;  to  fill  vacancies  in  offices  caused 
by  death  or  removal.  Abel  Ketelby  had  purchased  5000 
acres,  which  was  to  be  admeasured  to  him.  In  the 
event  of  the  death  of  the  Governor  or  his  departure,  the 
deputies  were  to  choose  one  out  of  their  number  to  be 
Governor  until  another  should  be  appointed  by  the  Pro- 
prietors. He  was  to  take  great  care  that  the  Indians 
should  not  be  abused,  that  justice  should  be  duly  admin- 


486  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

istered  to  them  in  the  courts ;  and  he  was  to  exert  himself 
to  the  utmost  to  create  a  firm  friendship,  and  to  bring 
them  over  for  the  better  protection  and  defence  against 
the  enemy  and  neighboring  French  and  Spaniards.  He 
was  to  inform  himself  of  what  acts  were  proper  to  be 
passed  likely  to  be  beneficial  to  trade.  He  was  to  repre- 
sent the  state  of  the  whale  fishing  and  what  further 
encouragement  was  proper  to  be  given  to  it.  No  land 
exceeding  640  acres  was  to  be  sold  without  a  special 
warrant.  The  purchase  money  and  quit-rents  of  all 
lands  thereafter  sold  in  South  Carolina  was  to  be  of 
the  value  of  English  sterling  money,  and  to  be  made 
payable  at  Charles  Town;  lands  sold  in  North  Carolina 
to  be  of  the  same  value,  and  made  payable  at  Chowan 
or  Bath  Town.^ 

^  The  publications  of  Oldmixon  and  Archdale  about  this 
time  drew  attention  in  England  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
Carolinians  and  other  colonists  in  America.  Lord  Craven, 
by  nature  more  moderate  than  the  late  Palatine,  anxious 
to  avail  himself  of  this  interest  in  his  colony,  charged  upon 
the  new  Governor  as  his  first  duty  the  pacification  of  the 
people.  When  after  a  long  delay  Colonel  Tynte  had 
been  approved  by  the  Royal  Government,  and  was  ready 
to  enter  upon  his  duties,  February,  1710,  Lord  Craven 
thus  addressed  him :  "  We  earnestly  request  your  en- 
deavors to  reconcile  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  to  each 
other,  that  the  names  of  parties,  if  any  yet  remain  amongst 
you,  may  be  utterly  extinguished.  For  we  can  no  ways 
doubt  but  their  prosperity  will  most  effectually  render 
Carolina  the  most  flourishing  colony  in  all  America."  ^ 
No  remarkable  events  occurred  during  Governor  Tynte's 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 154  ;  Colonial  Mecords  of  No.  Ga., 
vol.  I,  704-706. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  248, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  487 

short  term  of  office.  He  died  the  summer  after  his  arrival. 
A  General  Assembly  was  held  in  April,  1710,  and  several 
acts  were  passed  and  approved  by  him.  One  of  these  was 
an  act  for  regulating  taverns  and  punch  houses ;  ^  another, 
an  additional  act  in  relation  to  the  establishment  of  the 
church.2  By  this  latter  act  the  arreai-s  of  the  parochial 
charges  of  St.  Philip's,  Charles  Town,  and  other  parishes 
were  directed  to  be  paid  out  of  the  public  treasury ;  and, 
said  the  act,  "the  present  rector  of  St.  Philip's,  Charles 
Town,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gideon  Johnson,  having  a  numerous 
family,  shall  have  fifty  pounds  per  annum  added  to  his 
salary  for  so  long  a  time  as  he  continues  minister  of  the 
said  parish,"  etc.  The  sums  of  money  appropriated  by 
the  act  were  to  be  paid  out  of  the  money  received  for  the 
duties  on  skins  and  furs.  The  most  important  of  the 
acts  of  his  brief  administration,  and  one  which  renders 
that  administration  illustrious,  however  brief  its  dura- 
tion, was  "  An  act  for  the  Founding  and  Erectiyig  a  Free 
school  for  the  use  of  the  Inhabitants  of  South  Carolina.''''^ 

The  recital  of  this  act  is  interesting  as  showing  that 
even  before  this  time,  notwithstanding  the  political  tur- 
moils and  commotions  which  had  distracted  the  province, 
the  erection  of  a  free  school  had  been  proposed,  and  some 
steps  taken  towards  its  establishment.     It  is  as  follows :  — 

"  Whereas  it  is  necessary  that  a  Free  School  be  erected  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  youth  of  this  Province  in  grammar  and  other  arts  and 
sciences  and  useful  learning,  and  also  in  the  principles  of  the  christian 
religion  ;  and  whereas  several  charitable  and  well  disposed  christians 
by  their  last  wills  and  testaments  have  given  several  sums  of  money 
for  the  founding  of  a  freeschool  but  no  person  as  yet  is  authorized  to 
take  the  charge  and  care  of  erecting  a  freeschool  according  to  the  in- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  336.  The  date  of  this  act  is  given  in  the 
statute  as  of  14th  of  January,  1709.  But  this  is  a  manifest  mistake. 
Governor  Tynte  did  not  come  out  till  some  time  after. 

2J6id,338.  8/6id.,  342. 


488  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLliSTA 

tent  of  the  donors,  and  to  receive  the  said  legacies,  if  tendered,  nor 
to  demand  the  same  in  case  of  refusal  to  pay  the  same,  so  that  for 
want  of  some  person  or  persons  or  body  politick  or  corporate  proper 
for  the  lodging  the  said  legacies  therein  the  same  are  not  applied 
according  to  the  pious  and  charitable  intention  of  the  testators  or 
donors.    Be  it  therefore  enacted,"  etc. 

The  commissioners  appointed  under  this  act  were  the 
Hon.  Colonel  Edward  Tynte,  Esq.,  Governor,  Colonel 
Thomas  Broughton,  Esq.,  Landgrave  Joseph  Morton,  Mr. 
William  Gibbon,  Colonel  George  Logan,  Richard  Berres- 
ford,  Esq.,  Arthur  Middleton,  Esq.,  Captain  John  Abraham 
Motte,  Colonel  Hugh  Grange,  Ralph  Izard,  Esq.,  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Alexander  Parris,  Esq.,  Lewis  Pasquereau, 
Dr.  Gideon  Johnson,  Dr.  Francis  Le  Jau,  Mr.  Alexander 
Wood,  and  Nicholas  Trott,  Esq.  These  commissioners, 
comprising  the  leading  men  of  all  parties  in  the  province, 
churchmen,  dissenters,  and  Huguenots,  were  incorporated 
for  the  better  support  and  maintenance  of  masters  or 
teachers  for  the  school,  and  for  the  erecting  of  schoolhouses 
and  convenient  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
masters  and  teachers.  They  were  to  meet  annually  on 
the  second  Tuesday  in  July  to  choose  officers.  Colonel 
Edward  Tynte,  Governor,  was  made  the  first  President 
and  required  to  summon  the  first  meeting.  All  gifts 
or  legacies  formerly  given  for  the  use  of  a  free  school 
for  the  province  were  appropriated  by  the  act  for  the 
school  to  be  founded  under  it.  The  commissioners  were 
authorized  to  take  up  by  grant  from  the  Proprietors 
or  purchase  as  much  land  as  they  should  think  neces- 
sary. They  were  given  power  to  appoint  a  fit  person  to 
be  master  of  the  school  by  the  name  and  stile  of  Prse- 
ceptor  and  Teacher  of  Grammar  and  other  arts  and 
sciences.  The  person  to  be  master  of  the  school  was 
required  to  be  of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England, 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  489 

and  conform  to  the  same,  and  should  be  capable  to  teach 
the  learned  languages,  that  is  to  say,  the  Latin  and  Greek 
tongues  and  also  the  useful  parts  of  mathematics.  The 
commissioners  were  to  prescribe  such  orders,  rules,  stat- 
utes, and  ordinances  for  the  order,  rule,  and  good  govern- 
ment of  the  school  and  of  the  masters  and  teachers  as 
should  seem  meet  and  convenient  to  them. 

The  other  acts  passed  at  this  time  were  measures  of  or- 
dinary administration. 

Governor  Tynte  died  soon  after,  and  by  the  instructions 
which  he  had  brought  it  had  been  provided,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  that  in  such  an  event  the  deputies  of  the  Proprie- 
tors were  to  choose  one  of  their  number  to  be  Governor 
until  another  should  be  appointed  by  the  Proprietors.  It 
happened  that  at  this  time  there  were  but  three  deputies 
in  the  province ;  to  wit,  Robert  Gibbes,  Colonel  Thomas 
Broughton,  and  one  Fortescue  Turbeville.  The  last- 
named  person  had  just  come  out  as  the  deputy  of  the 
Duke  of  Beaufort,^  and  had  been  commissioned  also  to 
take  probate  of  wills,  and  to  grant  letters  of  adminis- 
tration. ^  Upon  the  meeting  of  these  for  the  purpose  of 
choosing  a  Governor,  there  had  been  a  recess  taken 
from  the  morning  until  the  afternoon,  when  it  was  de- 
clared that  Robert  Gibbes  was  chosen  and  was  proclaimed 
Governor.  Strangely,  it  happened  that  Turbeville  also 
died  suddenly,  and  upon  his  death  it  was  discovered  that 
at  the  morning  session  Turbeville  had  voted  for  Colonel 
Broughton,  but  during  the  recess  had  been  induced  by 
bribery  to  change  his  vote  to  Gibbes.  Upon  this  Brough- 
ton claimed  the  government,  alleging  Turbeville's  pri- 
mary and  uncorrupted  vote  in  his  favor.  To  this 
Gibbes  would  not  yield.  Each  persisted  in  his  claim,  and 
thereupon  ensued  a  most  discreditable  controversy,  ending 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  156.  2  jj^ici,^  173. 


490  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

in  riot.  Many  of  the  people  sided  with  Broughton,  but 
more  with  Gibbes.  Broughton  collected  a  number  of 
armed  men  at  his  plantation  and  proceeded  to  the  town. 
Gibbes,  learning  of  this,  caused  a  general  alarm  to  be  made 
and  the  militia  to  be  called  out.  At  the  approach  of 
Broughton's  party  to  the  gates  of  the  town  Gibbes  ordered 
the  drawbridge  standing  near  the  intersection  of  Broad  and 
Church,  now  Meeting,  streets,  to  be  drawn  up.  Brough- 
ton's party  demanded  admittance.  Gibbes  from  within 
the  walls  inquired  why  they  came  armed  in  such  numbers, 
and  whether  they  would  own  him  for  their  Governor. 
They  answered  that  they  had  heard  there  was  an  alarm, 
and  were  come  to  make  their  appearance,  but  would  not 
own  him,  Gibbes,  to  be  their  Governor.  He,  of  course, 
denied  them  entrance,  whereupon  some  rode  around  the 
walls  towards  Craven  Bastion  seeking  entrance  there  ; 
but  failing,  soon  returned  to  the  drawbridge.  In  the 
meantime  the  Broughton  party  in  the  town,  some  of  whom 
were  inhabitants  and  others  sailors  ready  for  any  mischief, 
gathered,  and  proceeded  to  force  a  passage  and  let  down 
the  drawbridge.  Gibbes's  party  opposed,  but  were  not 
allowed  to  fire  upon  them.  After  some  blows  and  wounds 
given  and  received,  the  sailors  and  men  of  Broughton's 
party  in  the  town  succeeded  so  far  as  to  lower  the  draw- 
bridge, over  which  their  friends  entered  and  proceeded  to 
the  watch-house  in  Broad  Street. ^  There  the  two  town 
companies  of  militia  were  posted  under  arms  and  with 
colors  flying.  When  Broughton's  party  came  near  they 
halted,  and  one  of  them  attempted  to  read  a  paper,  but 
could  not  be  heard  because  of  the  noise  made  by  the 
drums  of  the  militia.  Thus  balked,  they  marched  towards 
Granville  Bastion  and  were  escorted  by  the  seamen.  As 
they  passed  in  front  of  the  militia,  whose  guns  were 
^  Now  the  site  of  the  old  postoffice. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  491 

cocked  and  presented,  one  of  the  sailors,  catching  at  the 
ensign,  tore  it  off  the  staff.  On  this  provocation  some 
of  the  militia  fired  their  pieces,  but  fortunately  no  one 
was  hurt.  Captain  Brewton  with  drawn  sword  demanded 
the  torn  ensign  or  flag,  which  was  yielded,  but  Captain 
Evans,  a  considerable  man  of  Broughton's  party,  soon 
after  Attorney  General,  rescued  it.  Broughton's  party 
continued  their  march  for  some  time  and  then  proclaimed 
him  Governor.  Hurrahing,  they  approached  the  fort 
gate  of  Granville  Bastion  and  made  a  show  of  forcing  it ; 
but  observing  Captain  Pawley  with  his  pistol  cocked,  and 
many  other  gentlemen  with  their  guns  presented,  and  all 
forbidding  them  at  their  peril  to  attempt  the  gate,  they 
retired  to  a  tavern  in  the  bay  before  which  they  first 
caused  their  written  paper  or  proclamation  to  be  again 
read.  After  much  altercation  and  negotiation  through 
the  mediation  of  several  peacemakers,  a  compromise  was 
agreed  upon  by  which  the  controversy  was  suspended  to 
Await  the  decision  of  the  Lords  Proprietors.  In  the 
meantime  Gibbes  was  to  continue  in  the  administration 
of  the  government.^ 

It  was  not  until  January  23d,  following  (1710-11),  that 
an  account  of  the  disputes  between  Colonel  Broughton 
and  Colonel  Gibbes  was  received  at  a  meeting  of  the  Pro- 
prietors ;  upon  reading  which  it  was  determined  that 
Gibbes  had  been  guilty  of  bribery,  and  had  not  been 
duly  elected  Governor.  The  Proprietors,  it  appears,  had, 
however,  before  learning  of  this  trouble,  determined  to 
appoint  Charles  Craven,  a  brother  of  the  Palatine,  Gov- 
ernor in  the  place  of  Colonel  Tynte.^     Mr.  Craven,  who 

1  This  account  is  taken  from  Ramsay  {Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  53), 
who  gives  it  upon  the  authority  of  an  old  manuscript  in  the  handwriting 
of  Thomas  Lamboll,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  who  died  in  the  year 
1775,  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age.   See  also  Hist.  Sketches  (Rivers),  249. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  182. 


492  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

was  in  Carolina,  had  already  been  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  province. 1  On  the  14th  of  March  the  Proprietors 
sent  Governor  Craven  an  order  declaring  that  as  it  ap- 
peared to  them  that  Gibbes  had  been  guilty  of  bribery, 
it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  no  salary  should  be 
paid  to  him  as  Governor. ^ 

Notwithstanding  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  Proprie- 
tors, Gibbes  continued  in  office,  and  administered  the 
government  until  the  end  of  the  year.  Thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  affairs  of  the  province,  having  been  in 
the  colony  from  its  earliest  settlement,  his  administration 
was  marked  by  wise  enactment  and  the  undisturbed  pros- 
perity of  the  people.  He  was  not,  however,  popular,  and 
found  in  the  Assembly  many  "unwilling  members,"  who 
continued  "  very  dilatory  for  six  months  "  ;  finally  it  be- 
came impossible  to  secure  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
business.  Another  Assembly  was  chosen.  May,  1711,  but 
many  members  elected  refused  to  qualify.  Upon  its  as- 
sembling, Gibbes  expressed  his  gratification  of  meeting^ 
before  his  retirement,  those  who  appeared.  In  his  speech* 
he  said  "  there  was  one  among  them  to  whom  he  would 
readily  resign  the  government  whenever  legally  de- 
manded." He  rejoiced  that  they  had  no  complaints  to 
make  against  him  in  the  various  offices  in  which  he  had 
served  them,  and  stated  that  he  had  received  from  the 
Palatine  congratulations  on  his  recent  election  ;  ^  for  forty- 
eight  years  he  had  been  in  the  service  of  Carolina,  and 
left  it  in  a  flourishing  condition,  "  abounding  with  trade 
with   almost   all   parts  of   America,   and   most   parts    of 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  179. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  note,  92. 

3  These  congratulations  must  have  been  sent,  however,  before  the 
Proprietors  had  received  the  account  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
secured  his  election  by  the  deputies.  There  must  have  been  some  mis- 
take as  to  the  length  of  his  service,  inasmuch  as  the  colony  had  not  been 
founded  but  forty-one  years. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  493 

Europe  in  amity  with  us,  and  some  parts  of  Africa."  He 
recommended  particularly  to  their  attention  the  introduc- 
tion of  white  immigrants  on  account  of  the  large  increase 
of  negroes,  who  were  beginning  to  exhibit  a  malicious 
disposition.  He  called  attention  also  to  the  necessity  of 
separating  those  sick  of  the  smallpox,  then  prevalent 
in  Charles  Town,  from  contact  with  such  as  were  not 
infected.  1 

Several  events  of  interest  took  place  during  Gibbes's 
administration  indicative  of  the  growing  and  improving 
condition  of  the  people  ;  it  was  remarkable  also,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  the  further  outbreak  of  Indian  hostilities 
—  this  time  in  North  Carolina,  but  soon  to  be  renewed  in 
this  province  also. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1710-11,  upon  the  application 
of  several  merchants  representing  "  the  great  advantages 
that  might  accrue  to  her  Majesty's  subjects  in  general  by 
constituting  and  erecting  a  port  upon  the  river  called 
Port  Royal  in  Granville  County,  being  as  they  alleged 
the  most  proper  place  within  the  province  for  ships  of 
great  burdens  to  take  in  meats,  pitch,  turpentine,  and 
other  naval  stores  for  the  use  of  her  Majesty's  fleet,"  the 
Lords  Proprietors  gave  "directions  for  the  building  of  a 
town  to  be  called  Beaufort  Town,"  —  in  honor  of  the  new 
Proprietor,  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  —  upon  the  Port  Royal 
River  and  island  of  that  name.^    It  was  nearly  twenty -five 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  250,  251. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  159,  181. 

Professor  Whitney,  in  his  tract  upon  the  "  Government  of  the  Colony 
of  South  Carolina"  {Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  13  series,  1-11,  64), 
says :  "  The  second  town  of  importance  was  Port  Royal  where  the  French 
had  settled  under  Ribault  in  1562,  and  where  the  Proprietors  had  wished 
the  colonists  to  settle  in  1670." 

This  is  very  inaccurate.  The  town  was  not  called  "  Port  Royal,"  but 
*' Beaufort  Town"  as  mentioned  in  the  text;   nor  was  it  laid  out  upon 


494  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

years  since  the  destruction,  by  the  Spaniards,  of  Stuart 
Town,  Lord  Cardross's  attempted  settlement  at  Port  Royal. 
But  in  the  quarter  of  a  century  since,  the  country  had 
filled  up,  and  it  was  now  deemed  prudent  to  make  another 
effort  to  establish  a  town  upon  that  magnificent  harbor. 
This  was  the  foundation  of  a  settlement  which  became 
the  wealthiest,  most  aristocratic,  and  cultivated  town  of 
its  size  in  America  ;  a  town  which,  though  small  in  num- 
ber of  inhabitants,  produced  statesmen,  scholars,  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  divines  whose  names  and  whose  fame  are 
known  throughout  the  country. 

During  Governor  Tynte's  brief  administration,  an  act 
had  been  passed,  as  we  have  seen,  to  establish  a  free 
school.  Under  Gibbes's  rule,  the  matter  was  pressed, 
and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  the  project  was  carried  out.  The 
missionaries  of  the  society  and  many  other  gentlemen 
of  the  province,  to  whom  the  want  of  schools  had  been 
a  source  of  great  solicitude,  addressed  the  society  upon 
the  subject.  They  described  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  rising  generation  for  want  of  sufficient  education,  and 
lamented  the  decay  of  piety  and  morals  as  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  leaving  the  young  to  their  own  pursuits 
and  to  the  influence  of  evil  example.  The  spiritual  as 
well  as  temporal  interests  of  the  people  were  declared 
to  be  at  stake,  as  an  uneducated  community  was  but  a 

the  spot  where  Ribault  had  settled  and  left  his  colony  in  1562.  "  Fort 
Charles,"  Ribault's  settlement,  was  on  "Parris  Island,"  not  on  "Port 
Royal  Island."  The  points  are  at  least  five  miles  apart.  See  Hist. 
Sketches  (Rivers),  25,  and  note ;  and  Mill's  Atlas  of  So.  Ca. 

Professor  Whitney  is  also  mistaken  as  to  the  settlement  of  the  third 
town,  "Georgetown."  That  town  was  not  settled,  as  he  states,  about 
the  same  time  as  Beaufort.  It  was  not  settled  until  nearly  twenty  years 
after;  nor  is  Georgetown  referred  to  as  Winyaw.  "Prince  George's 
Winy  aw"  is  the  name  of  the  parish,  not  of  the  town. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  495 

small  remove  from  the  habits  and  feelings  of  savage  life. 
The  society  recognized  the  force  of  the  appeal,  and,  in 
the  year  1711,  they  sent  out  the  Rev.  William  Guy,  A.M., 
who  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  school,  and  who  at  the 
same  time  was  appointed  assistant  minister  of  St.  Philip's 
Church.  Mr.  Guy  was  a  native  of  England,  and  in  Dea- 
con's orders.  He  was  ordained  by  Dr.  Compton,  Bishop 
of  London,  January  18,  1711.  With  Mr.  Guy,  the  soci- 
ety sent  out  also  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Dennis,  as  a  school- 
master for  St.  James,  Goose  Creek.  Two  schools  were 
thus  established  in  1711.  ^ 

The  congregation  of  St.  Philip's  Church  had  so  in- 
creased,—  despite  the  parochial  troubles  with  the  minis- 
ters, Marston  and  Marsden,  and  notwithstanding  the 
character  given  them  by  Dr.  Gideon  Johnson  in  his  pri- 
vate correspondence,  —  that  not  only  was  there  a  neces- 
sity for  an  assistant  minister,  but  it  became  necessary  to 
build  a  new  church,  both  because  of  the  decay  of  the  old 
building  and  because  the  church  was  too  small  for  the 
population. 2  The  preamble  to  the  act  for  building  the 
church  states  that  several  persons  were  desirous  to  have 
a  new  church  built  of  brick  in  Charles  Town,  to  be  the 
parish  church  there,  and  a  tower  or  steeple  and  a  ring  of 
bells  therein,  together  with  a  cemetery  or  churchyard  to 
be  enclosed  with  a  brick  wall,  for  the  burial  of  Christian 
people  ;  and  that  charitable  and  well-disposed  persons 
would  contribute  towards  the  building  a  church,  if  com- 
missioners were  authorized  and  appointed  to  receive  and 
take  care  of  all  such  moneys  as  should  be  given  for  the 
purpose.  Whereupon,  the  Rev.  Gideon  Johnson,  Colonel 
William  Rhett,  Colonel  Alexander  Parris,  Messrs.  Will- 
iam Gibbons,  John  Bee,  and  Jacob  Satur  were  appointed 
commissioners  for  the  purpose,  and  for  receiving  sub- 
1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  93-248.  2  jj^i^^^  92. 


496  HISTORY  OF   SOUTfl   CAROLIiTA 

scriptions  and  charitable  donations ;  they  were  authorized 
to  purchase  and  take  grants  of  town  lots  for  the  church- 
yard, and  to  build  the  church  of  such  height,  dimensions, 
materials,  and  form  as  they  should  think  fit ;  to  enclose 
the  churchyard,  and  to  procure  the  ring  of  bells.  The 
pews  were  to  be  built  by  the  direction  of  the  commis- 
sioners with  the  advice  of  the  vestry ;  the  Governor's 
pew  to  be  built  as  he  should  direct.  This  act  was  merely 
permissive  ;  no  public  funds  were  appropriated  for  the 
purpose.^ 

Though  Governor  Craven's  commission  had  been  signed 
on  the  21st  of  February,  1710-11,  and  though  he  appears 
to  have  been  in  the  province,  he  had  not  assumed  the 
government  when,  in  September  following,  the  outbreak 
of  the  Tuscarora  Indians  took  place  in  North  Carolina. 

The  Proprietors  had  been  in  negotiation  with  Baron 
Christopher  de  Graffenried  and  Lewis  Michel  for  the 
establishment  of  a  colony  from  the  Swiss  canton  of 
Bern ;  and  on  the  3d  of  September,  1709,  had  given  a 
warrant  to  De  Graffenried  for  10,000  acres  of  land,  and 
to  Michel  for  3500  acres.  Baron  de  Graffenried  they 
made  a  Landgrave.  The  warrant  for  the  survey  of  the 
land  granted  was  made  to  John  Lawson,  the  traveller 
among  the  Indians,  and  author  of  the  work  entitled  A 
New  Voyage  to  Qarolina^  from  which  quotation  has  been 
made,  and  who  was  now  the  Surveyor  of  North  Carolina; 
and  Christopher  Gale,  the  Receiver  General,  was  directed 
to  supply  the  colonists  with  provisions  upon  their  arrival. ^ 
In  laying  out  these  tracts  Lawson  encroached  upon  lands 
near  the  Neuse  River,  claimed  by  the  Tuscarora  Indians. 
It  happened,  too,  that  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  De 
Graffenried's  colony  the  government  of  North  Carolina  was 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  453,  454 ;  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  352. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  718. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  497 

torn  by  the  most  violent  factions,  one  led  by  Edward 
Moseley,  and  the  other  by  Thomas  Pollock,  to  which  the 
Proprietors  seem  to  have  been  as  indifferent,  if  not  dis- 
interested, spectators  as  they  were  to  the  struggles  in 
South  Carolina  between  Colleton  and  Sothell,  Morton  and 
Moore,  and  Gibbes  and  Broughton.  The  Baron,  courted 
by  both  parties  as  well  because  of  his  title  as  Landgrave 
and  its  rights  under  the  Constitutions,  as  because  of  the 
number  of  his  followers,  which  might  hold  the  balance  of 
parties,  ultimately  was  drawn  to  the  support  of  Pollock, 
who  was  then  maintaining  the  interest  of  Governor  Hyde, 
against  the  pretensions  of  Colonel  Cary,  a  struggle  which 
ended  in  the  latter's  rebellion.  During  these  commotions 
the  Indians  were  made  to  believe  that  De  Graffenried  had 
come  to  expel  them  from  their  lands ;  and  the  Baron  and 
Lawson,  unfortunately  exposing  themselves  upon  an  expe- 
dition up  the  Neuse  River  to  ascertain  if  it  was  navigable, 
were  taken,  and  Lawson  was  put  to  death,  it  is  said,  in 
the  most  inhuman  manner.  If  the  information  subse- 
quently derived  from  the  Indians  be  true,  they  stuck  him 
full  of  fine,  small  splinters  of  torch- wood,  like  hog's  bris- 
tles, and  set  them  gradually  on  fire.  Baron  de  Graffen- 
ried was  spared  from  death  and  ultimately  made  his 
escape.  This  was  but  the  beginning  of  the  trouble.  A 
general  uprising  took  place,  ending  in  the  most  horrible 
massacre  on  the  22d  of  September,  1711.  Twelve  hun- 
dred Tuscaroras,  separated  into  numerous  small  divisions, 
fell  upon  the  whites  at  the  dawn  of  that  day.  The 
slaughter  was  indiscriminate  and  horrible  enough  to  make 
the  Indian  annals  of  Albemarle  the  bloodiest  and  most 
cruel.  One  hundred  and  thirty  victims  were  butchered 
in  the  settlements  on  the  Roanoke.  The  Swiss  around 
Newbern,  to  the  number  of  sixty  more,  were  murdered. 
The  Huguenots  of  Bath,  and  its  vicinity,  to  what  num- 
2k 


498  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

ber  is  not  known,  fell  under  the  knife  and  tomahawk. 
Women  were  laid  upon  the  house  floors  and  great  stakes 
were  driven  through  their  bodies ;  from  others  big  with 
child  the  infants  were  ripped  out,  and  hung  upon  trees ; 
and  so  hotly  did  the  Indians  pursue  the  survivors  that 
the  dead  were  left  unburied,  a  prey  to  dogs,  wolves, 
and  vultures.  The  carnage  lasted  for  three  days,  and 
terminated  at  last  only  from  the  disability  produced  in 
the  savages  by  the  combined  effect  of  drunkenness  and 
fatigue.  1 

Governor  Hyde  at  once  communicated  the  terrible  con- 
dition of  affairs  in  his  province  to  Virginia  and  to  South 
Carolina.  To  the  latter  he  sent,  without  delay,  a  special 
messenger,  Christopher  Gale.  Gale,  upon  his  arrival, 
presented  a  memorial  to  Robert  Gibbes  as  Governor,  and 
to  the  Council  and  General  Assembly.  To  receive  this, 
Governor  Gibbes  immediately  convened  the  General  As- 
sembly, which  met  on  the  26th  of  October,  when  he  laid 
before  the  Houses  the  letters  which  Gale  had  brought. 
Upon  reading  these  in  the  Assembly,  it  Avas  at  once 
"  Resolved :  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  House  that  the 
inhabitants  of  North  Carolina  in  their  present  deplorable 
circumstances  should  be  aided  and  assisted  by  this  gov- 
ernment." Upon  receiving  notice  of  this  resolution,  the 
Governor  and  Council  promptly  replied  :  '*  We  are  heartily 
glad  that  the  Resolution  of  your  House  is  so  agreeable  to 
ours  &  that  those  good  intentions  may  the  sooner  be 
put  in  execution  we  desire  that  you  would  speedily  pro- 
pose a  method  to  answer  the  end  we  aim  at,  the  relief  of 
our  poor  distressed  Brethren  of  North  Carolina."  It  was 
determined  to  raise  immediately  a  sufficient  number  of 
warlike  Indians  with  proper  officers  for  this  service,  and  to 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  Preface,  xxx,  and  826  ;  Hawks's 
Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  630. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  499 

raise  the  sum  of  <£4000  to  provide  arms  and  ammunition 
and  to  meet  expenses.  It  was  also  "  Ordered:  That  the 
offer  of  the  chief  Captain  of  the  forces  to  be  raised  to 
march  ag'*  the  Tusqueroras  be  made  to  Jno  Barnwell 
Esqr.  which  the  Speaker  having  made  :  The  S*  John 
Barnwell  answered  the  House  that  he  thanked  the  House 
for  the  offer  &  that  he  would  accept  the  same."  ^ 

Colonel  Barnwell  set  out  with  all  expedition ;  and  the 
Assembly  appointed  Friday,  the  16th  of  November,  a  day  of 
humiliation  and  prayer  in  behalf  of  their  distressed  neigh- 
bors. Colonel  Barnwell's  command  consisted  of  a  small 
body  of  militia  and  several  hundred  Indians  ;  to  wit,  218 
Cherokees  under  the  command  of  Captains  Harford  and 
Turstons,  79  Creeks  under  Captain  Hastings,  41  Cataw- 
bas  under  Captain  Cantey,  and  28  Yamassees  under  Cap- 
tain Pierce,  Avhich  little  force  immediately  entered  upon 
the  long  and  toilsome  march  through  the  then  wilderness 
between  Charles  Town  and  the  Neuse  River.  Governor 
Hyde,  in  the  meanwhile,  had  not  been  idle  and,  embodying 
the  militia  as  far  as  the  deplorable  factions  —  which  con- 
tinued even  in  this  great  extremity  —  would  allow,  and 
collecting  provisions  for  their  coming  allies,  he  awaited 
their  arrival.  As  soon  as  this  took  place  and  a  junction 
of  their  forces  was  made,  Barnwell  assumed  the  aggressive. 
As  the  troops  of  the  province  approached,  the  Indians 
collected  all  their  strength  into  one  body,  but  retreated 
as  Barnwell  advanced  upon  them.  He  pursued  and  came 
up  with  them  on  the  28th  of  January,  1712,  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  present  County  of  Craven,  North  Carolina. 
Here  they  had  erected  on  the  shores  of  the  Neuse  a  strong 
wooden  breastwork  or  palisade  fort  about  twenty  miles  to 
the  westward  of  the  town  of  Newbern.  Receiving  at 
this  place  some  fresh  reinforcements,  they  marched  out 
1  MSS.  Journals;  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  820-829. 


500  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

boldly  to  give  battle  to  the  whites.  But  Barnwell,  with- 
out waiting  their  attack,  made  a  furious  assault,  and 
defeated  them  with  great  slaughter.  More  than  300 
Indians  were  killed  and  100  were  made  prisoners ;  how 
many  were  wounded  or  afterwards  died  of  their  wounds 
was  not  known.  The  survivors  retreated  into  their  fort 
and  were  surrounded  by  the  whites.  Barnwell,  short  of 
provisions  and  unwilling  to  carry  the  fort  by  assault, 
because  of  the  white  prisoners  the  Indians  had  therein, 
who  would  doubtless  have  been  at  once  dispatched  had  it 
been  attacked,  granted  a  treaty,  and  peace  was  willingly 
concluded.  He  sent  to  Charles  Town  for  a  sloop  to  take 
home  his  disabled  men  and  himself,  for  he  too  had  been 
wounded,  while  his  Indian  allies  retraced  their  line  of 
march  homeward. ^ 

The  news  of  the  battle  was  a  great  relief  to  Governor 
Hyde  and  his  Council.  They  ordered  a  formal  vote  of 
thanks,  first,  to  the  government  of  South  Carolina,  for 
sending  Barnwell  and  the  troops ;  and  secondly,  they 
deputed  two  of  their  members  to  convey  the  thanks  of 
the  board  to  Barnwell  personally,  "  for  his  great  care  dili- 
gence and  conduct."  They  next  resolved  at  all  hazards 
to  prosecute  the  war,  and  proposed  to  raise  200  men  for 
four  months'  service  to  act  with  the  South  Carolinians 
under  Barnwell's  command.^ 

Thus  far,  observes  Hawks,  all  seemed  prosperous,  and 
Colonel  Barnwell  appears,  on  the  records  of  the  country, 
to  have  possessed  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  au- 
thorities in  North  Carolina.  Tradition,  too,  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  he  says,  has  preserved  a  most  respectful 
remembrance  of  the  South  Carolinian  leader.     Born  near 

1  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  537  ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca. 
(Rivers),  264 ;  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  202. 

2  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  538. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  501 

the  spot,  Dr.  Hawks  says  that  he  made  inquiries  of  the 
most  aged  of  his  countrymen  in  that  region,  but  could 
hear  no  disparaging  imputation  upon  Colonel  Barnweirs 
conduct.  His  name  was  still  honorably  preserved  in 
memory  by  the  same  Indian  fort  ;  the  spot  where  it  stood 
is  called  to  this  day  "Fort  Barnwell."  But  the  truth  of 
history  requires  him,  he  says,  with  honest  impartiality  to 
relate  that  it  would  seem,  from  the  records  of  the  Council 
of  North  Carolina  of  May  9,  1712,  some  three  months 
after  the  battle,  that  for  some  cause  not  specificall}^  men- 
tioned the  authorities  of  the  province  were  not  satisfied 
with  Barnwell's  conduct. 

Dr.  Hawks  states  that  he  had  made  diligent  search  to 
find  from  other  sources  the  cause  of  this  altered  feeling 
towards  Barnwell,  and  from  letters  to  Governor  Spots- 
wood,  Governor  Hyde,  and  Colonel  Pollock  he  had  gath- 
ered that,  in  two  particulars,  his  conduct  was  complained 
of.  First,  it  was  alleged  that  after  the  Indians  had  re- 
treated to  their  fort  and  were  surrounded  by  his  men, 
he  had  them  completely  in  his  power,  and  might,  by  ex- 
terminating them,  have  put  an  end  to  the  war ;  but  not- 
withstanding also  that  Colonel  Mitchell  had  raised  a 
battery  within  eleven  yards  of  the  fort,  and  mounted  it 
with  two  pieces  of  cannon,  surrounding  also  a  portion 
of  the  palisade  with  combustibles,  Barnwell,  nevertheless, 
made  a  treaty  with  the  savages  thus  beleaguered,  and  per- 
mitted them  to  escape.  Secondly,  it  was  stated  that  after 
the  treaty  he  violated  good  faith  by  permitting  his  men 
to  fall  upon  the  towns  of  those  Indians  with  whom  he 
had  made  peace,  and  thus  renewed  the  Avar. 

Dr.  Hawks  examines  very  thoroughly  these  charges, 
which  had  been  partially  accepted,  even  by  our  own 
historian.  Professor  Rivers,  upon  the  authority  of  Will- 
iamson—  an  authority  which   Dr.    Hawks   refuses,  how- 


502  HISTORY   OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

ever,  to  recognize  —  and  from  records  not  accessible  to 
Rivers  in  a  great  measure  explains  them  away.  He 
shows  that  Governor  Spotswood,  who  charged  Barnwell 
with  "  clapping  up  a  peace,"  knew  nothing  of  the  matter 
personally,  and  derived  his  impressions  from  Governor 
Hyde  and  Colonel  Pollock,  whom  Barnwell  had  offended 
by  an  intimacy  which  had  grown  up  between  Moseley 
and  himself.  In  the  bitterness  of  the  factions  in  North 
Carolina,  it  was  charged  that  the  Indian  outbreak  had 
been  instigated  by  Cary  and  Moseley.  They  looked, 
therefore,  upon  Barnwell  with  suspicion  and  distrust 
because  of  his  associates,  and  when  the  Tuscarora  Indians 
were  allowed  to  escape  and  very  shortly  after  renewed 
their  hostilities,  it  was  not  difficult  for  them  to  convince 
themselves  that  under  Moseley's  influence  they  had  pur- 
posely been  allowed  to  do  so  from  sinister  motives. ^ 

But  the  recent  publication  of  the  manuscript  of  Baron 
de  Graffenried  completely  refutes  the  charges  and  gives 
a  plain  and  satisfactory  explanation  of  Colonel  Barnwell's 
motives  for  not  assaulting  the  fort  when  its  capture  was 
no  longer  a  matter  of  doubt.  The  reason  was,  as  before 
suggested,  that  the  fort  was  full  of  white  captives,  who 
cried  out  that  they  would  be  slaughtered  if  the  assault 
was  made.  That  this  simple  explanation  of  a  transaction 
for  which  Colonel  Barnwell  was  very  much  blamed  by 
the  Pollock  faction,  says  Saunders,  in  his  preface  to  the 
Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina^  comes  to  us  from 
Switzerland  more  than  a  century  and  half  after  its  occur- 
rence, and  not  from  the  Pollock  faction,  shows  with  how 
much  caution  the  statements  of  that  faction  must  be  re- 
ceived. Unfortunately,  all  the  records  of  that  day  that 
have  come  to  us  were  made  by  the  Pollock  faction,  and 
none  by  their  rivals  of  the  Moseley  party.  It  seems, 
1  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol  II,  640,  641. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  508 

continues  Saunders,  incredible  that  Pollock  did  not  know 
why  Barnwell  preferred  to  "  clap  up  a  peace  "  rather  than 
carry  the  fort  by  assault ;  yet  he  makes  no  mention  of  it. 
Barnwell  was  on  too  good  terms  with  Moseley  for  him 
to  find  favor  in  Pollock's  sight.  Tradition  in  and  about 
the  locality,  it  is  said,  corroborates  Dr.  Graffenried's 
statement  as  to  the  presence  of  white  captives  in  the 
fort.i 

Dr.  Hawks  points  out,  also,  that  there  is  something 
suspicious  in  the  long  interval  permitted  to  elapse  be- 
tween the  time  of  the  treaty,  January,  1712,  and  the 
period  when  the  North  Carolina  Council  first  noticed  the 
supposed  treason,  i.e.  May,  1712.  The  treaty  was  no 
secret  during  all  this  period;  and  it  was  four  months 
before  the  Council  said  a  word,  and  when  they  did  speak, 
they  confessed  they  had  made  no  examination  of  the  facts, 
important  as  they  were  to  the  country.  They  threatened 
an  official  complaint  to  South  Carolina,  which  was  to  fol- 
low if  they  found  Barnwell  guilty.  No  such  complaint 
was  ever  made.^  Colonel  Barnw^elFs  reputation  was  so 
little  affected  by  the  factional  slander  in  North  Carolina 
that  the  second  expedition  which  South  Carolina  was 
soon  called  upon  to  send  would  no  doubt  have  been  en- 
trusted to  him  if  it  were  not  for  the  injuries  he  had  re- 
ceived in  the  first,  which  rendered  him  unable  to  mount 
his  horse. ^ 

In  the  year  1711,  still  further  changes  took  place  in 
the  board  of  Proprietors.  William  Lord  Craven  died, 
and  Sir  Fulwar  Skipwith  was  shortly  after  admitted  to 
the  board  as  guardian  to  that  nobleman's  successor,  the 
Lord  Craven  —  then  an  infant.     John  Lord  Carteret  be- 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  Preface,  xxxi,  955. 

2  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  542. 

3  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  254,  note. 


504  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

came  of  age  and  took  his  seat.  On  the  8th  of  November, 
1711,  at  a  meeting  at  the  Duke  of  Beaufort's  house,  at 
which,  however,  his  Grace  was  not  present  but  was  rep- 
resented by  Mr.  Manly,  upon  a  motion  to  proceed  to  the 
election  of  another  Palatine  in  the  room  of  William  Lord 
Craven,  deceased,  a  letter  was  read  from  Lord  Carteret, 
proposing  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  which  was  unanimously 
agreed  to,  and  the  Duke  became  the  seventh  Palatine  of 
Carolina.^ 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  183. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
1712 

The  Hon.  Charles  Craven  at  length  assumed  the  gov- 
ernment, —  some  time  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1712. 
Since  the  days  of  Joseph  West,  says  Rivers,  no  man  more 
wise,  pure,  and  capable,  or  more  beloved  by  the  people, 
had  been  appointed  to  govern  Carolina.^  Nothing  had 
yet  been  heard  from  Colonel  Barnwell  since  he  had  set 
out  upon  his  expedition. 

When  the  Assembly  met  on  the  2d  of  April,^  the  new 
Governor  in  his  "speech,"  as  the  address  upon  opening 
that  body  was  now  termed,  observed  that,  having  lived 
some  time  among  them,  knowing  that  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors had  nominated  him  as  Governor,  an  opportunity  had 
been  afforded  of  diligent  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the 
province  to  learn  wherein  its  true  interest  lay,  which 
none  of  his  predecessors  had  had  at  heart  more  than  him- 
self. He  recommended  them  to  do  everything  that  might 
secure  the  province  both  from  foreign  and  domestic  in- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  251,  252. 

2  The  members  of  this  House  of  Commons,  so  worthy  of  remembrance 
for  its  excellent  work,  were  as  follows :  Colonel  William  Rhett,  Speaker ; 
Colonel  Alexander  Parris,  Henry  Wigginton,  Esq.,  Thomas  Nairne,  Esq., 
Mr.  Manly  Williams,  Mr.  John  Morgan,  Mr.  William  Gibbon,  Mr.  Jacob 
Eve,  Henry  Noble,  Esq.,  Captain  Benjamin  Quelch,  Captain  Peter  Staner, 
Mr.  John  Oldfield,  Mr.  William  Fuller,  Captain  Arthur  Hall,  Mr.  John 
Raven,  Mr.  Samuel  Wragg,  Mr.  Benjamin  Godin,  Mr.  Jacob  Beamor, 
Captain  Lorcey,  and  Mr.  Henroydah  English.     Commons  Journal  (MS.). 

505 


506  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

vasion.  He  urged  the  repair  of  Fort  Johnson  and  the 
fortifications  around  the  town.  "  'Tis  true,"  he  said,  "  we 
hear  of  a  treaty  of  peace  going  forward,  and  what  may 
we  expect  from  so  good  and  pious  a  Queen,  whose  delight 
is  in  her  subjects'  welfare ,  but  the  conclusion  is  yet  un- 
certain and  we  are  so  great  a  distance  that  our  enemies 
in  the  interior  may  invade  us,  lay  waste  our  Province 
before  we  can  receive  the  benefit  of  so  desirable  a  bless- 
ing." ^  By  his  instructions,  he  said,  he  was  ordered  to 
have  a  particular  regard  for  the  Indians,  and  to  protect 
them  from  insult ;  their  friendship  was  so  necessary  to 
the  well-being  of  the  province  he  need  not  press  the  mat- 
ter further  to  the  representatives  of  the  people,  whose 
eyes  were  always  open  to  the  public  good. 

This  led  him  to  speak  of  the  expedition  to  North  Caro- 
lina, and  to  express  his  surprise  that  in  so  many  months 
they  had  no  true  account  of  the  condition  of  their  friends, 
their  enemies,  or  even  of  the  army,  —  none  but  fabulous 
reports.  Where  the  fault  lay,  time  only  could  discover. 
But  as  intelligence  was  the  life  of  action,  information 
must  first  be  obtained  before  coming  to  any  further  reso- 
lution upon  .the  subject. 

He  recommended  a  review  of  all  the  laws  passed  during 
the  late  government,  and  he  was  ready  to  do  his  part  in 
whatever  should  be  determined  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
Assembly.  He  advised  also  that  some  effectual  means 
should  be  devised  of  settling  funds  to  discharge  the  debts 
of  the  province,  for  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  to  maintain  the  public  credit.  Then,  in  reference 
to  the  late  contentions  in  the  province,  he  thus  spoke :  — 

"  Gentlemen  As  my  own  persuasions  will  ever  dispose  me  to  do 
every  thing  that  may  contribute  to  the  prosperity  and  firm  establish- 
ment of  the  Church  of  England,  so  will  my  temper  always  incline  me 

1  Public  Records  of  So.  Ca. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  507 

as  a  fellow  christian  to  show  the  greatest  tenderness  to  those  who 
are  under  the  misfortune  of  dissenting  from  her,  and  to  do  nothing 
that  may  seem  to  endanger  them  that  liberty.  It  were  to  be  wished 
indeed  that  we  could  all  be  of  one  opinion ;  but  that  is  morally  im- 
possible ;  but  in  this  we  may  all  agree,  to  live  amicably  together, 
consult  the  common  good,  the  tranquillity  of  our  province  and  the 
increase  of  its  trade. 

"  However  great  such  an  honor  might  be,"  said  he,  "  yet  I  shall 
look  on  it  as  a  greater  glory  if  with  your  assistance  I  could  bring  to 
pass  so  noble  designs  as  the  safety  of  this  province,  the  advancement 
of  its  riches,  and  what  is  more  desirable  that  unanimity  and  quiet 
that  will  so  much  contribute  toward  rendering  this  the  most  flourish- 
ing colony  on  the  Main.  ...  To  what  a  prodigious  height  hath 
the  united  provinces  risen  in  less  than  a  century  of  years  to  be  able 
to  create  fear  in  some,  envy  in  others  and  admiration  in  the  whole 
world."! 

The  anxiety  concerning  the  Indian  outbreak  in  North 
Carolina  was  not  relieved  until  the  following  July,  when 
the  news  of  Colonel  Barnwell's  success  was  received,  and 
a  sloop  sent  to  bring  him  and  his  disabled  men  home.^  In 
the  meanwhile  the  spirit  of  the  Governor's  address  was 
highly  appreciated  and  fully  responded  to. 

The  Assembly,  regardless  of  factions  and  animosities, 
devoted  themselves  to  the  welfare  of  the  province,  and  by 
their  assiduity  and  ability  rendered  the  year  1712  famous 
in  the  legislative  annals  of  the  province  and  State.  The 
South  Carolinian  lawyer  of  student  of  history  of  to-day 
finds  himself  constantly  referred  back  to  the  statutes  of 
this  year  as  the  basis  of  most  subsequent  legislation  of  the 
State.  Governor  Craven's  wisdom  and  diligence  doubtless 
aided  greatly  in  this  achievement,  and  without  the  active 
support  and  countenance  of  so  wise  and  beneficent  a  ruler 
it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  so  great  a  work  could  have 

1  MSS.  Journal  Commons;  Dalcho's  Gh.  Hist.,  93;  Hist.  Sketches 
of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  252. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  254. 


508  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAKOLTNA 

been  accomplished.  But  the  inspiration  and  labor  of 
the  great  undertaking  was  another's.  To  Chief  Justice 
Trott  doubtless  is  due  the  credit  and  honor  of  the  great 
compilation  of  laws  enacted  at  this  time.  However  un- 
scrupulous as  a  politician,  corrupt  and  tyrannical  as  a 
judge,  Trott  was  a  profound  lawyer,  a  scholar  of  great 
learning,  and  a  most  laborious  and  indefatigable  worker. 
Resting  for  a  while  from  political  agitation,  he  had  spent 
the  time  in  compiling  the  laws  of  the  province.  For- 
tunately, it  happened  that  so  wise  and  able  a  man  as 
Craven  was  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  ready  with  his 
great  influence  to  assist  in  securing  the  results  of  Trott's 
work  by  its  enactment  into  laws.  The  work  consisted  of 
three  parts  :  (1)  The  revision  and  amendment  of  several 
of  the  most  important  matters  of  recent  legislation,  and 
the  enactment  of  measures  in  regard  to  the  better  ad- 
ministration of  justice  ;  (2)  the  codification  and  adoption 
of  so  much  of  the  statutory  law  of  England  as  was  suitable 
to  the  condition  of  the  province  ;  and  (3)  the  compilation 
of  all  previous  laws  of  the  colony. 

The  first  measure  of  Governor  Craven's  administra- 
tion was  an  additional  act  to  those  relating  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  religious  worship  in  the  province.^  There 
was  a  revision  of  the  previous  acts  upon  the  subject,  with 
some  new  features.  The  first  of  these  was  a  provision 
empowering  commissioners  to  hear  and  settle  all  differ- 
ences concerning  the  election  of  ministers.  The  Church 
act  of  1706  had  provided  that  the  rectors  or  ministers  of 
the  several  parishes  should  be  chosen  by  the  majority  of 
the  inhabitants.  This  was  a  very  important  innovation, 
as  it  may  be  termed,  upon  the  law  of  England  under 
which  the  bishop  or  lay  patron  had  the  right  of  presenta- 
tion to  benefices,  and  differing  from  those  of  the  West 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  366. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  509 

Indies  and  other  colonies  which  gave  the  right  to  the 
Governor.  It  was  probably  the  result  of  the  congrega- 
tional influence  in  the  colony  making  itself  felt  in  the 
establishment  of  the  church,  which  it  could  not  prevent. 
But  in  adopting  this  provision,  in  1706,  no  method  of 
settling  questions  which  might  arise  at  the  election  of 
ministers  had  been  provided.  This  was  now  done.  If 
the  lay  commissioners  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  clergymen  in  any  differences  after  their  installation, 
they  would  at  least  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  to 
decide  all  questions  that  might  arise  before  ecclesiastical 
institution.  In  1710,  under  the  administration  of  Gibbes, 
an  act  had  been  passed,  as  we  have  seen,  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  new  brick  church  at  Charles  Town,  to  be  the 
parish  church  of  St.  Philip's  ;  provisions  were  now  made 
for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  for  the  purpose. ^ 
It  was  in  this  act  of  1712  that  we  find  the  recital  of  the 
establishment  of  a  provincial  library  in  1700,  and  the 
mention  of  the  deaths  of  five  of  the  original  commission- 
ers. New  commissioners  are  named  in  the  place  of  the 
deceased,  and  times  of  meeting  appointed.  That  the 
library  was  then  in  active  operation  is  shown  by  this  pro- 
vision :  — 

«  XXV.  Whereas  by  the  said  Act  (i.e.  1700)  all  the  mhabitants  of 
this  Province  without  any  exception  may  have  liberty  to  borrow  any 
book  out  of  the  provincial  library  giving  a  receipt  for  the  same,  which 
unrestrained  liberty  hath  already  proved  very  prejudicial  to  the  said 
library,  several  of  the  books  being  lost  and  others  damnified  and  there- 
fore, for  the  preservation  of  the  said  library  it  will  be  necessary  to 
lodge  a  discretional  power  in  the  person  that  keeps  the  same,  to  deny 
any  person  the  loan  of  the  book  that  he  shall  think  will  not  take  care 
of  the  same." 

To  prevent  further  loss,  the  librarian  was  given  a  dis- 
cretionary power  in  the  loan  of  books.     The  library  was 
Statutes  of  So.  Cci.,  vol.  II,  366-376. 


510  HISTOKY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

kept  in  the  parsonage  belonging  to  St.  Philip's  Church, 
the  minister  of  which  was  the  librarian. 

An  important  provision  of  this  act  was  the  recognition 
of  the  jurisdiction  of  Dr.  Compton,  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
London,  and  his  successors,  at  least  so  far  that  upon  the 
arrival  of  any  minister  recommended  by  his  Lordship  or 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  the  sal- 
ary of  such  minister,  he  being  chosen  the  rector  or  minister 
of  any  parish,  should  begin. 

Two  very  important  measures  were  adopted  in  relation 
to  schools.  The  original  of  the  first  of  these,  entitled 
"  An  act  for  the  Encouragement  of  Learning^^  has  been, 
unfortunately,  mutilated,  —  one  half  of  a  leaf  torn  off. 
The  preamble  to  it,  which,  however,  remains,  again  refers 
to  the  fact  that  several  sums  of  money  had  been  given  by 
well-disposed  persons  for  building  a  free  school,  which 
could  not  then  conveniently  be  done ;  to  supply  which 
defect  for  the  present,  it  was  enacted  that  John  Douglass 
should  be  master  of  a  grammar  school  of  Charles  Town 
for  teaching  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  and  should 
choose  an  usher  to  assist  him  "  in  teaching  the  languages, 
reading,  English,  writing,  arithmetick  or  such  parts  of 
the  mathematicks  as  he  is  capable  to  teach."  It  also  re- 
cited that  Mr.  Benjamin  Dennis,  having  been  sent  over 
by  the  ^recommendation  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  to  be  a  schoolmaster  for  the  parish 
of  St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  had  for  a  considerable  time 
given  great  satisfaction,  and  was  therefore  worthy  of  con- 
sideration, and  as,  by  reason  of  the  neglect  of  many  of  his 
parishioners,  sufficient  provisions  for  his  maintenance 
could  not  be  made,  which  might  discourage  that  honor- 
able society  in  sending  over  others,  it  thereupon  provided 
for  Mr.  Dennis  a  salary  of  X16  a  year.  As  a  further 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  376. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  511 

provision  for  Mr.  Douglass,  the  schoolmaster  in  Charles 
Town,  it  was  provided  that  he  should  receive  £3  a 
year  for  each  scholar  to  whom  he  taught  the  Greek  and 
Latin  tongue,  and  a  proportional  sum  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time,  and  for  every  scholar  to  whom  he  taught 
English  writing,  arithmetic,  or  any  other  part  of  the 
mathematics,  such  a  sum  as  should  be  agreed  upon  be- 
tween the  master  and  learner  himself  or  any  other  in  his 
behalf;  two-thirds  of  the  money  received  should  be  for 
the  master,  John  Douglass ;  the  other  third  part  for  the 
usher. 

This  act  was  adopted  on  the  7th  of  June  ;  but  on  the 
12th  of  December,  with  that  of  1710,  it  was  repealed, 
and  in  their  places  another  and  more  elaborate  measure 
was  enacted.  This  was  entitled  "A/i  act  for  Founding 
and  Erecting  a  Free  School  in  Charles  Town  for  the  use  of 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  Province  of  South  Carolina.^'  ^  The 
same  commissioners  were  reappointed  and  incorporated 
under  this  act  as  in  that  of  1710,  with  the  exception  of 
two  changes,  —  Colonel  Rhett  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Maule 
were  substituted  for  John  Abraham  Motte,  who  was  dead, 
and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Wood,  who  had  left  the  province. 
These  commissioners  were  to  meet  annually  and  choose 
officers,  and  twice  a  year  or  oftener  for  other  purposes. 
The  Hon.  Charles  Craven  was  the  first  President.  They 
were  to  receive  all  gifts  and  legacies  appropriated  to  a 
free  school,  and  to  take  up  land  and  build  houses  for  the 
teachers.  John  Douglass  was  to  be  the  first  master  of 
the  school,  "%  the  name  and  stile  of  Preceptor  or  Teacher 
of  Grammar  and  other  the  Arts  and  Sciences  to  be  taught  in 
the  Free  School  at  Charles  Toivn  for  the  Province  of  South 
Carolina.'^'*  The  commissioners  were  empowered  upon  his 
death  or  departure  to  supply  his  place.  Though  Land- 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  389. 


512  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

grave  Morton,  the  leading  dissenter  in  the  colony,  was 
one  of  the  commissioners,  the  act  provided  that  the  mas- 
ter of  the  school  was  to  be  of  the  Church  of  England 
and  to  conform  to  the  same.  He  was  to  be  capable  to 
teach  the  learned  languages, — that  is  to  say,  Latin  and 
Greek  tongues,  —  and  to  catechise  and  instruct  the  youth 
in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  as  professed  in 
the  Church  of  England.  The  commissioners  were  to  pre- 
scribe rules  for  the  government  of  the  school.  Any  per- 
son giving  X20  might  nominate  one  scholar  to  be  taught 
free  for  five  years.  It  was  provided  that  in  consideration 
of  the  schoolmaster's  being  allowed  the  use  of  the  lands 
and  dwelling-houses,  and  the  salary  of  jGIOO  per  annum, 
twelve  scholars  should  be  taught  free,  besides  one  for 
any  person  contributing  X20.  For  any  other  scholar  the 
master  was  to  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  jG4  current  money 
per  annum.  If  the  number  of  scholars  became  more  than 
one  man  could  well  manage,  the  commissioners  might 
appoint  an  usher  at  a  salary  not  exceeding  <£50  per 
annum,  and  30s.  for  every  scholar  under  his  charge  besides 
the  free  scholars.  And  because,  said  the  act,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  give  encouragement  to  a  fit  person  who  will  un- 
dertake to  teach  the  youth  of  the  province  to  write,  and 
also  the  principles  of  vulgar  arithmetic  and  merchant's 
accounts,  it  was  provided  that  a  fit  person  should  be 
appointed  to  teach  those  branches,  and  also  the  art  of 
navigation  and  surveying  and  other  useful  and  practical 
parts  of  the  mathematics,  and  for  his  encouragement 
was  to  be  paid  at  the  same  rate  as  the  usher.  Schools 
might  also  be  established  in  each  of  the  other  parishes, 
the  schoolmasters  of  which  were  to  have  XIO  per  annum, 
and  X12  current  money  were  allowed  for  the  building  of 
a  parish  school. 

Another  most  important  measure  of  this  time  was  the  pas- 


UNDER   THE   l»ROl»RIETARY  GOVERNMENT  518 

sage  of  ^^An  act  for  the  more  effectual  preventing  the  spreading 
of  contagious  distempers.'^  ^  In  1698  an  act  had  forbidden 
vessels  to  pass  to  the  east  of  Sullivan's  Island  one  mile, 
under  penalty  of  being  fired  on  by  the  gunner  and  paying 
a  fine,  and  the  pilot  was  required  to  ascertain  from  the 
captain  if  any  contagious  disorders  were  on  board,  under 
penalty  of  £50.2  This  subject  was  now  again  taken  up, 
and  in  the  act  mentioned  a  quarantine  law  was  put  in 
operation.  A  health  officer  was  appointed,  one  Gilbert 
Guttery,  who  was  empowered  and  required  to  board  all 
vessels  as  soon  as  they  came  over  the  bar  of  Charles  Town, 
and  to  make  strict  inquiry  into  the  health  of  the  place 
from  which  such  vessel  last  came,  and  of  all  persons  on 
board,  and  of  the  causes  of  death  of  any  who  had  died 
during  the  voyage.  He  was  empowered  to  send  any 
person  on  board  ashore  to  the  pest-house  on  Sullivan's 
Island  ;  and  in  case  of  death  by  malignant  disorders  hav- 
ing occurred  during  the  voyage,  to  order  the  vessel  to  lie 
off  Sullivan's  Island  for  twenty  days.  The  act  was  con- 
fined to  the  port  of  Charles  Town,  but  the  Governor  might 
extend  its  provisions  to  other  ports. 

'''An  act  for  the  better  observation  of  the  Lord's  Bay^ 
commonly  called  Sunday^''  ^  illustrates  the  influence  of  the 
puritanical  spirit  of  the  times,  even  upon  the  people  of 
the  Church  of  England  in  Carolina.  "  Whereas,"  it  said, 
"  there  is  nothing  more  acceptable  to  God  than  the  true 
and  sincere  service  and  worship  of  him,  according  to  his 
holy  will,  and  that  the  holy  keeping  of  the  Lord's  Day 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  382. 

Quarantine  measures  were  first  adopted  in  America  as  follows: 
Massachusetts  in  1648,  South  Carolina  in  1698,  Pennsylvania  in  1699, 
Rhode  Island  in  1711,  New  Hampshire  in  1714,  and  New  York  in  1745. 
Supplement  to  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  title  "  Quarantine." 

■2  Ibid.,  152. 

3  Ibid.,  396. 
2l 


614  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  OAROLINA 

is  a  principal  part  of  the  true  service  of  God  which  in 
many  places  of  the  Province  is  so  much  prophaned  and 
neglected  by  disorderly  persons,"  it  was  therefore  en- 
acted that  all  persons  whatsoever  should  on  every  Lord's 
Day  apply  themselves  to  the  observation  of  the  same,  by 
exercising  themselves  thereon  in  the  duties  of  piety  and 
true  religion,  publicly  and  privately ;  and,  having  no  rea- 
sonable or  lawful  excuse,  should  resort  to  their  parish 
church  or  some  meeting  or  assembly  of  religious  worship 
allowed  by  the  laws  of  the  province,  and  there  abide 
orderly  and  soberly  during  the  time  of  prayer  and  preach- 
ing on  pain  and  forfeiture  for  every  neglect  the  sum  of 
five  shillings  current  money  of  the  province.  No  trades- 
man, artificer,  workman,  laborer,  or  other  person  should 
do  any  worldly  labor  or  work  of  the  ordinary  callings 
upon  that  day  (works  of  necessity  or  charity  only  ex- 
cepted), under  a  like  forfeiture.  Goods  publicly  sold  on 
Sunday  were  forfeited.  No  person  was  allowed  to  travel 
on  Sunday  by  land  or  by  water  except  it  be  to  go  to  the 
place  of  worship  and  to  return  again,  or  to  visit  and  relieve 
the  sick,  or  unless  belated  the  night  before,  and  then  to  travel 
no  further  than  to  some  convenient  inn  or  place  of  shelter 
for  that  day,  or  upon  some  extraordinary  occasion,  for  which 
a  person  should  be  allowed  to  do  so  under  the  hand  of  some 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  No  sports  or  pastimes  were  allowed. 
No  public  house  was  allowed  to  entertain  any  guests  on 
the  Lord's  Day  except  lodgers  or  strangers.  For  the 
better  keeping  of  good  order,  the  churchwardens  and 
constables  were  required  once  in  the  forenoon  and  once 
in  the  afternoon,  in  time  of  divine  service,  to  walk  through 
the  town  and  to  suppress  all  offences  against  the  act.  If 
any  master  or  overseer  should  cause  or  encourage  a  ser- 
vant or  slave  to  work  on  the  Lord's  Day,  he  should  for- 
feit the  sum  of  five  shillings  for  every  offence.     Nothing 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  516 

in  the  act,  however,  was  to  extend  to  the  prohibiting  of 
dressing  of  meats  in  families  or  public  houses,  nor  to  the 
buying  and  selling  of  milk  before  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  or  after  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

Two  important  measures  in  regard  to  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  were  enacted.  One  was  '•'■An  act  for  settling 
the  titles  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province  to  their  posses- 
sions in  their  estates  within  the  same^  and  for  limitations  of 
actions^  and  for  avoiding  suits  at  law.""  ^  By  this  act  all  pos- 
sessions or  titles  to  lands  for  seven  years  without  lawful 
interruption  were  made  good  against  all  claims  whatso- 
ever, and  the  times  for  bringing  actions  of  all  kinds  were 
limited.  The  other  was  "Jlw  act  for  the  better  securing  the 
payment  of  debts  due  from  any  person  inhabiting  and  resid- 
ing beyond  the  sea  or  elsewhere  without  the  limits  of  this 
Province^^''  etc.^  This  act,  known  as  the  Foreign  Attach- 
ment Acty  was  a  revision  of  the  first  act  upon  the  subject 
passed  in  1691  under  Sothell's  administration,  and  pro- 
vided means  of  seizing  an  absent  or  absconding  debtor's 
property,  and  subjecting  it  to  the  payment  of  creditors. 
It  remained  the  law  upon  the  subject  until  the  adoption 
of  the  new  code  of  procedure  in  1872. 

The  poor  laws  of  the  province  were  revised  and  re- 
modelled. The  vestries  of  the  several  parishes  were  em- 
powered yearly  to  nominate  two  or  more  overseers,  who, 
with  the  wardens  of  the  parishes,  were  charged  with  the 
ordering  and  relieving  of  the  poor,  out  of  such  money  and 
fines  as  should  be  given  for  their  use,  which,  if  not  suffi- 
cient, was  to  be  supplied  by  assessments,  which  the  ves- 
tries were  authorized  to  make.  The  main  features  of  this 
act  were  taken  from  the  English  poor  laws.^ 

Another  very  important  measure  was  ''An  act  for  ap- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  583. 

2  Ibid. ,  588.  3  Tji'^.  ^  593-606. 


516  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

pointing  an  agent  to  solicit  the  affairs  of  this  Province  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain.""^  By  this  act  the  important 
policy  which  prevailed  in  most  of  the  colonies  of  maintain- 
ing an  agent  in  London  to  watch  and  guard  the  interests 
of  the  province  before  the  Proprietors  and  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  adopted  in  Carolina  ;  and  the  agency  thus 
established  became  of  great  consequence  in  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  province,  especially  during  the  approach- 
ing revolution,  and  continued  scarcely  less  so  under 
the  Royal  Government  after  the  overthrow  of  that  of 
the  Proprietors. 

The  Board  of  Trade  in  England  were  pressing  more 
and  more  the  enforcement  of  the  navigation  laws  in  the 
colonies,  and  especially  in  Carolina,  and  watching  for  in- 
fringements of  them  as  causes  upon  which  could  be  based 
a  forfeiture  of  the  charter.  Rice  and  naval  stores,  the 
principal  exports  of  the  colony,  were  among  the  enumer- 
ated articles  which  were  forbidden  to  be  shipped  for  sale 
except  to  England.  On  the  other  hand,  bounties  were 
offered  to  the  importers  of  pitch,  tar,  turpentine,  and 
other  naval  stores.  It  was  deemed  of  great  importance 
therefore  to  have  an  agent  in  England  to  watch  the  inter- 
ests of  the  colony,  to  procure  a  continuance  of  the  bounty, 
and,  if  possible,  to  procure  also  permission  for  Carolina  to 
export  naval  stores  and  rice  to  Spain,  Portugal,  Africa, 
and  other  places  in  America  and  the  West  India  Islands. 
By  this  act  the  Hon.  Abel  Kethellby,^  of  the  Inner  Temple, 
who  had  been  made  a  Landgrave,  was  appointed  agent. 
His  instructions  were  to  procure  first  the  continuance  of 
the  bounty,  and  so  earnest  was  the  Assembly  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  that  he  was  charged  not  to  let  his  solicitation 
for  a  free  exportation  of  rice  interfere  with  the  bounty 
on  the  naval  stores.     A  committee,  consisting  of  Charles 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  600. 

2  This  name  is  so  spelled  in  this  statute.    Elsewhere  it  is  spelled  Kettleby, 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  517 

Hart,  Arthur  Middleton,  and  Samuel  Eveleigh,  Esqs.,  Mr. 
"William  Gibbons,  and  Henry  Wigginton,  Esq.,  was  ap- 
pointed to  put  the  act  into  execution,  and  to  correspond 
with  the  agent  from  time  to  time,  sending  him  instruc- 
tions. The  agent  was  to  be  paid  <£150  current  money  as 
an  encouragement  to  undertake  the  agency,  and  £150 
more  as  soon  as  an  act  of  Parliament  should  be  passed  for 
a  longer  continuance  of  the  bounty  to  the  importers  of 
naval  stores  to  England  from  this  province.  He  was  to 
receive  jG500  as  soon  as  an  act  of  Parliament  should  be 
passed  permitting  a  free  exportation  of  rice  from  the  prov- 
ince to  Spain,  Portugal,  and  all  places  in  Africa  and 
America,  both  continent  and  islands,  and  a  proportional 
sum  for  as  many  of  these  places  to  which  he  could  procure 
an  allowance  of  such  exportation.  Two  years  after,  the 
allowance  of  the  agent  was  made  .£200  currency  annually, 
and  the  committee  of  correspondence  was  reduced  to 
three,  —  Hon.  Samuel  Eveleigh,  Colonel  William  Rhett, 
and  Arthur  Middleton,  Esq. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  during  Governor  Ludv^ell's 
administration  the  Proprietors  had  disallowed  the  enact- 
ment of  a  habeas  corpus  act  upon  the  ground  that  it  was 
not  necessary  to  reenact  any  statute  of  England,  as  such 
statute  applied  to  this  colony  propria  vigore  under  the 
charter.  1  That  theory  was  now  abandoned,  and  under 
Craven  the  habeas  corpus  act  of  King  Charles  the  Second 
was  formally  reenacted.^  Then  followed  the  adoption  of 
Trott's  great  work,  —  a  general  codification  of  the  English 
statutes,  applicable  to  the  condition  of  the  new  country, 
and  a  compilation  of  all  colonial  acts  then  in  force. 

This  was  for  the  time  a  stupendous  work.  There  had 
been  before  this  several  instances  of  compilation  of  colo- 
nial statutes  in  other  provinces,  a  brief  mention  of  which 
1  Ante^  p.  247.  2  /Statutes  0/  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  399, 


518  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

in  this  connection  will  not  be  without  interest  here.^  In 
Massachusetts,  Nathan  Ward  had  compiled  the  perpetual 
laws  enacted  by  the  General  Court  as  early  as  1641. 
His  work  was  entitled  the  "  Body  of  Liberties,"  sometimes 
called  "  Liberties,"  or  "  Book  of  Liberties. "  Thei^  were  also 
several  revisions  by  the  Plymouth  Colony  General  Court — 
1636,  1658,  and  1671.  In  Virginia,  the  laws  in  force  in 
1662  were  collected  out  of  the  Assembly  Records,  digested 
into  one  volume,  and  revised  and  confirmed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  in  1684  a  complete  collection  of  all 
the  laws  in  force,  with  an  Alphabetical  Table  annexed, 
was  made.  In  1673  was  published  the  book  of  General 
Laws  for  the  people  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecti- 
cut, collected  out  of  the  Records  of  the  General  Court, 
then  lately  revised  with  emendations  and  additions  estab- 
lished and  published  by  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut 
holden  at  Hartford  in  October,  1672.  In  New  York  there 
had  been  a  collection  of  the  laws  from  1691  to  1694, 
and  in  1710  the  laws  as  they  were  enacted  by  the  Gov- 
ernor's Council  and  General  Assembly  from  1691  to  1709 
were  compiled  and  published.  Following  Trott's  collec- 
tion of  the  laws  of  South  Carolina  in  1712,  which  we 
are  now  considering,  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  collected 
into  one  volume,  were  published  by  the  order  of  the 
Governor  and  Assembly  of  the  province  in  1714  ;  there 
was  a  collation  of  the  laws  of  New  Hampshire  in  1716  ; 
and  a  partial  collection  of  the  laws  of  New  Jersey  was 
made  in  1717.  These  works  were  all  compilations,  or  col- 
lations as  they  were  sometimes  termed,  of   the   colonial 

1  These  instances  are  compiled  from  The  Charlemagne  Tower  Collec- 
tion of  Colonial  Laws,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  1890.  The 
author  is  also  indebted  for  information  upon  this  subject  to  Hon.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts,  to  Mr. 
W.  P.  Upham,  Newton ville,  Mass.,  and  to  Mr.  William  Brook-Rawle  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  519 

statutes  and  laws  in  force  in  the  respective  provinces  at 
the  time  of  their  collection,  and  were  made  either  by 
private  individuals  or  by  enactments  of  the  colonial  legis- 
latures. And  such  was  a  part  of  Trott's  work  —  that 
relating  to  the  compilation  of  the  laws  of  the  province  ; 
but  far  the  most  important  was  the  codification  of  the 
English  statutes,  to  which  we  can  find  no  other  like  and 
contemporaneous  work  in  America.  This  work  was  more 
than  a  compilation.  It  was  a  codification  embodied  in  a 
single  act.  The  act  was  entitled  ^^An  act  to  put  in  force  in 
this  Province  the  several  statutes  of  the  Kingdom  of  Eng- 
land or  South  Britain  therein  particularly  mentioned,''^ 
It  comprised  an  actual  revision  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
statutory  law  of  England,  and  the  selection  from  it  of 
such  statutes  not  only  as  were  then  applicable  to  the 
condition  of  the  colony  at  the  time,  but  which  would 
become  so  on  its  further  development.  Tlie  statutes  se- 
lected, and  modified  when  needful,  were  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  in  number,  covering  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pages  royal  octavo  of  the  second  volume  of  the  Statutes 
at  Large.  Strange  to  say,  the  preamble  to  this  most  impor- 
tant act,  which  is  unusually  brief,  gives  no  intimation  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  measure  and  assigns  the  most  in- 
adequate reasons  for  its  enactment.  The  occasion  for 
the  act  stated  is  that  "  many  statute  laws  of  the  Kingdom 
of  England  or  South  Britain  by  reason  of  the  different 
way  of  agriculture  and  the  differing  production  of  the 
earth  of  this  Province  from  that  of  England  are  alto- 
gether useless,  and  many  others  (which  otherwise  are 
very  apt  and  good)  either  by  reason  of  their  limitation 
to  particular  places  or  because  in  themselves  they  are 
only  executive  by  such  nominal  offices  as  are  not  in  nor 
suitable  for  the  constitution  of  this  government  are  thereby 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  401. 


620  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

become  impracticable  here."  With  this  very  unsatisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  occasion  of  the  work,  the  act 
provided  that  the  statutes  or  parts  of  statutes  of  the 
kingdom  of  England  enumerated  in  an  elaborate  table 
annexed,  consisting  of  statutes  from  the  time  of  the  great 
charter  in  the  ninth  year  of  King  Henry  the  Third,  which 
was  itself  specifically  mentioned,  to  the  eighth  year  of 
Queen  Anne,  should  be  of  the  same  force  in  the  province 
as  if  they  had  been  enacted  in  the  same.  The  text  of  the 
enumerated  statutes  was  given  in  full  and  included  in  the 
enactment.  It  was  also  provided  in  the  same  act  that  all 
and  every  part  of  the  common  law  of  England,  when  the 
same  was  not  altered  by  the  enumerated  acts  or  inconsist- 
ent with  the  particular  constitutions  and  customs  and 
laws  of  the  province,  and  excepting  such  as  had  relation 
to  ancient  tenures  which  were  taken  away  by  acts  of 
Parliament  of  12  Charles  II,  c.  24,  doing  away  with  the 
court  of  Wards  and  Liveries  and  Tenures  in  capite  and 
by  knight's  service,  was  to  be  of  full  force  in  the  province. 
There  was  also  excepted  that  part  of  the  common  law 
which  related  to  matters  ecclesiastical  which  were  incon- 
sistent with  or  repugnant  to  the  settlement  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  province  as  there  established.  The 
Governor  with  his  Council  were  constituted  a  Court  of 
Chancery,  with  the  same  powers  as  those  exercised  by 
the  Lord  Chancellor  or  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  of 
Great  Britain,  in  England.  The  Courts  of  Record  in  the 
province  were  to  have  the  powers  of  the  King's  or  Queen's 
courts.  All  the  statute  laws  of  England  not  enumerated 
in  the  act  (such  only  excepted  which  related  to  her 
Majesty's  customs  and  acts  of  trade  and  navigation) 
were  declared  impracticable.  It  was  provided  that  noth- 
ing in  these  acts  should  be  construed  to  take  away  or 
abridge  the  liberty  of  conscience,  or  any  other  liberty  in 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  521 

matters  ecclesiastical,  from  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province,  but  that  the  same  should  still  be  enjoyed  according 
to  the  powers  and  privileges  granted  to  the  true  and  absolute 
Lords  Proprietors  by  their  charter  from  the  Crown,  and  the 
several  acts  of  Assembly  of  the  province  then  in  force. 

A  remarkable  circumstance  in  connection  with  this  act 
is  the  undue  haste  in  which  a  measure  of  such  great  im- 
portance was  hurried  through  the  legislature.  It  appears 
by  the  journal  that  it  was  read  in  the  Assembly  for  the 
first  time  on  Wednesday,  the  26th  of  November,  1712,  and 
immediately  passed  by  that  body  with  some  amendments. 
It  is  not  mentioned  by  whom  this  act  was  introduced.  It 
was  sent  at  once  to  the  Governor  and  Council.  That 
body  hesitated  to  act  so  inconsiderately  upon  so  grave  and 
important  a  measure,  and  returned  it  with  a  message  on 
the  28th,  saying  :  — 

"  We  take  it  to  be  a  bill  of  that  consequence  that  it 
will  require  your,  as  well  as  our  diligent  care  to  over- 
look all  the  statutes,  that  we  may  know  whether  all  or 
any  part  of  them  are  adapted  to  the  nature  and  constitu- 
tion of  the  government  of  the  province.  We  give  to  you 
as  our  advice  and  opinion  that  the  best  way  for  both 
Houses  to  be  satisfied  in  a  case  of  this  consequence  will  be 
to  commit  the  bill  to  a  committee  of  both  Houses  to  ex- 
amine the  said  statutes  in  which  we  shall  readily  join  with 
you  in  appointing  a  committee  to  join  a  committee  of 
yours."  This  suggestion  of  the  Governor  and  Council 
was  at  first  accepted  by  the  House,  and  a  committee 
appointed  to  examine  the  bill  and  the  several  English 
statutes  with  instructions  to  report  at  the  next  session  of 
the  General  Assembly  ;  or  if  in  case  that  Assembly  should 
sit  no  more,  the  committee  were  to  report  to  the  next  sit- 
ting of  the  succeeding  General  Assembly.  What  occurred 
to  change  this  course  of  proceeding,  and  to  demand  im- 


522  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

mediate  action  upon  the  bill,  is  not  disclosed  in  the  journal, 
nor  is  there  any  other  contemporaneous  statement.  The 
entries  in  the  journal  merely  show  that  the  bill  was  read 
a  second  time  on  December  5th,  and  a  third  time  on  the 
11th,  and  that  it  was  ratified  on  the  12th.  The  committee 
probably  shrank  from  so  arduous  a  labor  as  the  revision 
of  these  statutes,  or  perhaps  felt  themselves  incompetent 
to  the  task,  and  determined  to  accept  Trott's  work  as  it 
stood.  It  is,  perhaps,  after  all  as  well  that  they  did  so. 
Their  crude  attempts  to  amend  may  have  rather  marred 
than  improved  a  compilation  which  has  remained  the 
groundwork  of  all  subsequent  general  legislation  in  South 
Carolina  for  nearly  two  centuries. 

There  had  as  yet  been  no  collection  of  the  statutory 
laws  of  the  province,  as  had  been  made  in  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  and  Virginia.  This  want  Chief  Justice  Trott 
now  also  supplied.  He  made  a  collection  of  all  the  statu- 
tory enactments  he  could  find,  and  had  them  "  digested  into 
an  exact  and  easy  method,"  and  '*  a  double  transcript  of  the 
same,  with  marginal  notes,  references,  and  tables,  fitted  for 
the  press."  This  work  was  laid  before  the  General  Assem- 
bly, approved  and  adopted  by  it,  and  Trott  was  allowed 
X250  for  his  copy.  It  was  also  enacted  "that  the  body  of 
the  Laws  of  this  Province,  being  collected  by  the  said 
Nicholas  Trott,  shall  be  forthwith  transmitted,  either  to 
London,  New  Yorke,  or  Boston  in  New  England,  there  to 
have  four  hundred  books  of  the  Laws  printed  and  bound, 
at  the  charge  of  the  publick  and  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
publick  Treasury  of  the  Province,  and  to  be  transmitted 
at  the  risque  of  the  publick."  Further,  it  was  provided 
"that  the  said  book  of  the  Laws  when  printed  as  afore- 
said be  and  shall  be  taken  deemed  and  held  a  good  and 
lawful  Statute  Book  of  this  Province  in  all  Courts  and 
upon  all   occasions  whatsoever  as  the  Statute   Book  of 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  523 

the  Laws  of  Great  Britain  is  deemed  held  and  taken  in 
that  kingdom,"  etc.^  Owing,  probably,  to  the  financial 
difficulties  of  the  province,  the  Indian  wars,  the  troubles 
with  the  pirates,  and  to  the  revolution  which  soon  took 
place,  overthrowing  the  Proprietary  Government,  which 
revolution  was  brought  about  curiously  enough  in  a  great 
measure  by  his  own  tyrannical  and  corrupt  conduct,  the 
publication  of  Trott's  collection  was  not  made  for  more 
than  twenty  years  after.  The  manuscript  volume,  how- 
ever, now  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  in  Columbia, 
remains  a  monument  to  his  patient  industry  and  ability. 
It  was  not  printed  until  1736. 

Instead  of  the  crude,  fanciful,  and  extravagant  Consti- 
tutions of  Shaftesbury  and  Locke,  Craven  and  Trott  had 
now  substituted  a  well-digested  and  tried  system  of  law 
suited  to  the  condition  of  the  people  of  the  colony,  and 
fulfilling  the  requirement  of  the  charter  that  the  laws  of 
the  province  should  be  as  near  as  conveniently  might  be 
to  the  laws  and  customs  of  England. 

It  was,  however,  during  this  year  that  the  unfortunate 
experiment  was  made  of  establishing  a  public  bank.  In 
1702,  in  order  to  pay  the  expenses  occasioned  by  the  expe- 
dition to  St.  Augustine,  the  Assembly  authorized  the  issue 
of  stamped  bills  of  credit  to  be  sunk  in  three  years  by  a 
duty  on  liquors,  skins,  and  furs.  This  was  the  first  paper 
money  that  appeared  in  the  province,  and  was  the  origin 
of  current  money  mentioned  in  various  acts  of  Assembly, 
and  of  what  was  called  old  currency  to  the  end  of  the 
Royal  Government.  It  was  denominated  current  money 
to  distinguish  it  from  sterling  money  of  England,  very 
little  of  which  was  ever  in  circulation,  the  balance  of  trade 
being  always  in  falvor  of  the  mother  country. 

The  credit  of  this  currency  was  at  first  equal  to  sterling 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  602. 


524  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

and  so  continued  for  about  six  years,  but  afterwards  depre- 
ciated. The  necessities  of  the  government  continually 
increasing,  requiring  fresh  supplies  of  a  medium  of  value 
for  circulation  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  by  the 
Indian  and  Spanish  wars  and  other  exigencies  of  the 
colony,  succeeding  emissions  of  bills  of  credit  took  place. 
The  first  emissions  were  £4000  in  1706,i  and  X8000  in 
1707.2  But  in  1712  a  new  and  plausible  project  was 
adopted,  which,  however,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of 
its  friends,  diminished  the  value  of  the  bills.  Interest 
was  then  ten  per  cent,  and  lands  were  increasing  in  value 
from  the  successful  culture  of  rice.  These  circumstances 
suggested  the  idea  of  a  land  bank  as  an  easy  and  practi- 
cable mode  of  obtaining  money,  and  of  supporting  the 
credit  of  paper.  The  enormous  issue  of  <£ 52,000  was 
made  in  bills  of  credit,  called  bank  bills,  to  be  loaned 
out  at  interest  to  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  could  give 
the  requisite  security  and  agreed  to  pay  interest  annually 
in  addition  to  the  twelfth  part  of  the  principal.  This 
paper  currency  might  be  legally  tendered  in  payment  of 
debts.  On  their  emission  the  rate  of  exchange  and  the 
price  of  produce  quickly  increased.  In  the  first  year  it 
advanced  to  150  and  in  the  second  year  to  200  per  cent. 
A  further  depreciation  resulted  from  a  further  emission  of 
£15,000  by  the  Assembly  in  1716  to  assist  in  defraying 
the  expenses  of  the  Yamassee  war.  In  ten  years  after 
the  bank  was  established,  — 1722,  —  it  was  fixed  by  law  at 
four  for  one. 3  This  bank  act  excited  the  remonstrance 
of  the  London  merchants,  and  the  Proprietors  severely 
censured  Governor  Craven  for  its  enactment.* 

1  Statutes  of.  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  274.  a  jf^i^,^  302. 

8  Ibid.,  389,  note,  711  ;  Introduction  to  Brevard's  Digest,  xi ;  Karnsay's 
Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  162. 

*  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  257  ]  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  207. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

1713-16 

Immediately  upon  Colonel  Barnwell's  return,  the  Ind- 
ians in  North  Carolina  resumed  hostilities  with  greater 
rage  and  more  atrocious  cruelties.  The  Governor  of  that 
province  again  appealed  to  Virginia  and  South  Carolina 
for  assistance.^  Another  expedition  was  quickly  organized, 
and,  as  before  stated,  the  command  would  doubtless  have 
been  given  to  Colonel  Barnwell,  but  he  was  still  disabled 
by  his  wounds. 2  In  his  absence,  it  was  entrusted  to 
Colonel  James  Moore,  son  of  the  late  Governor  of  that 
name,  who  had  been  a  famous  Indian  fighter.  The  forces 
of  the  new  expedition  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  the 
Congaree,  and  Governor  Craven  went  up  to  inspect  their 
equipment  and  to  encourage  them.  Colonel  Moore  ad- 
vanced with  40  white  men  and  about  800  Indians,  and  after 
a  toilsome  march  arrived  on  the  Neuse.  Governor  Pollock 
of  North  Carolina  had,  in  the  meanwhile,  been  gaining 
time  by  negotiations  with  the  Indian  chief,  Tom  Blount. 
About  the  middle  of  January,  1713,  Colonel  Moore  ad- 
vanced upon  the  enemy,  but  was  detained  by  a  heavy  fall 
of  snow  until  the  4th  of  February.  The  Indians  had  built 
a  fort  near  the  village  of  Snow  Hill,  the  seat  of  Greene 
County,  which  they  called  Nahucke.  Into  this,  on  Moore's 
approach,  they  retired,  and  on  the  20th  of  March  he  laid 

1  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  544. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  254,  note. 

525 


526  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

siege  to  the  place,  and  in  a  few  days  became  master  of  it. 
A  large  number  of  the  Indians  were  killed,  and  800  pris- 
oners fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conquerors.  Moore  lost 
but  58  men,  of  whom  36  were  Indians.  The  South  Caro- 
lina Indians,  acting  precisely  as  they  had  done  under 
Barnwell  in  the  previous  expedition,  secured  as  many 
slaves  among  the  captured  as  they  could,  and  forthwith 
set  out  for  Charles  Town,  but  180  remained  with  Moore. 
Small  as  was  this  force,  Moore,  in  conference  with  Pollock, 
determined  to  keep  it  in  the  settlement,  and  to  follow  up 
the  blow  with  another.  But  the  enemy  were  too  much 
intimidated  to  afford  an  opportunity.  Such  as  escaped 
from  Nahucke  fled  to  another  fort  about  forty  miles  dis- 
tant, but  did  not  dare  to  await  there  Moore's  approach. 
The}^  abandoned  the  fort.  The  greater  part  of  them  as- 
cended the  Roanoke,  and  finally,  leaving  the  province, 
joined  the  Five  Nations  of  the  Iroquois  in  New  York, 
thenceforth  making  the  Sixth. 

There  seems  to  have  been  some  fatality  attending  the 
position  of  Palatine  of  Carolina.  Since  the  long  presi- 
dency of  Earl  Craven,  from  1681  to  1697,  during  the 
seventeen  years  which  had  elapsed,  i.e.  from  1697  to  1714, 
there  had  been  four  Palatines,  —  Earl  of  Bath,  Lord  Gran- 
ville, Lord  Craven,  and  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  each  of 
whom  died  in  office.  The  Duke  of  Beaufort  had  been 
Palatine  but  three  years,  when,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1714, 
his  death  was  announced,  and  John  Lord  Carteret,  grand- 
son of  Sir  George  Carteret,  the  first  Proprietor  of  that 
name,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.^  This  was  the  statesman 
afterwards  celebrated  as  the  Earl  of  Granville,  to  which 
title  he  succeeded  upon  the  death  of  his  mother.  Lady 
Grace  Granville,  the  daughter  of  John  Granville  of  Bath, 
who  had  been  Palatine  from  1697  to  1702.    Lord  Carteret 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  186. 


TTNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERITMENT  527 

was  at  this  time  but  twenty-four  years  of  age  ;  but  on  the 
threshold  of  his  brilliant  career.^  He  was  to  be  the  last 
Palatine  of  Carolina. 

The  announcement  of  the  death  of  Duke  of  Beaufort, 
the  Palatine,  was  followed  soon  after  by  that  of  the  death 
of  Queen  Anne,  which  took  place  on  the  1st  of  August, 
1714.  On  the  4th  of  September,  the  Lords  Proprietors 
sent  out  orders  for  the  proclamation  of  King  George  I.^ 
The  Proprietary  Government  under  the  charter  had  begun 
very  nearly  with  the  restoration  of  the  House  of  Stuart ; 
it  was  to  outlast  the  rule  of  that  race  by  but  a  few  years. 
Queen  Anne  and  her  war  were  no  more.  Peace  had  been 
established  in  Europe.  The  proclamation  of  the  new 
King  and  the  oath  of  allegiance  were  not  made,  says 
Rivers,  with  the  indifference  formerly  so  remarkable  in 
the  colony,  but  with  the  ardor  of  those  almost  in  sight  of 
their  monarch  from  whom  they  looked  for  relief  and  hap- 
piness. Indeed,  says  that  author,  in  their  warmth  of 
loyalty  they  forgot  the  rules  of  climax.  "  We,  a  people," 
said  they,  "  separated  by  the  immense  ocean,  can't  be 
blessed  with  your  royal  presence.  But,  like  the  sun 
who  sheds  his  glorious  beams  on  all,  we  may  feel  the 
favorable  influence  of  your  government.  Like  Augustus, 
may  your  reign  be  long  in  peace ;  may  you  be  loved  at 
home  and  feared  abroad  ;  and  when  Providence  calls  you 
from  that  earthly  diadem  that  now  environs  your  royal 

1  "  Lord  Granville,  they  say,  is  dying.  When  he  dies  the  ablest  head 
in  England  dies  too,  take  him  for  all  in  all."  —  Chesterfield  to  his  Son, 
December  13, 1762.  Walpole  pronounced  him  to  be  a  greater  genius  than 
Sir  R.  Walpole,  Mansfield,  or  Chatham.  —  Memoirs  of  George  II,  III,  85. 
"I  feel  a  pride,"  said  Chatham,  "in  declaring  that  to  his  patronage,  to 
his  friendship  and  instruction  I  owe  whatever  I  am."  —  Pari.  Hist.,  XVI, 
1097.  See  "  Sketch  of  his  Character,"  by  Lecky,  England  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century,  vol.  I,  406. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  186. 


528  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  OAROLlKA 

head  may  there  never  be  wanting,  even  to  latest  posterity, 
one  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Hanover  to  fill  the  British 
throne."! 

Events  were  fast  hurrying  on  the  colonists  of  Carolina 
to  appeal  to  the  protection  of  the  new  King  from  the  foes 
against  whom  the  Lords  Proprietors  could  afford  them  no 
assistance,  and  forcing  them  to  ask  to  be  taken  under  the 
direct  care  and  rule  of  his  own  Royal  Government.  The 
Indian  outbreak  in  North  Carolina  had  been  suppressed  ; 
but  an  uprising  soon  followed  in  this  colony  which  carried 
its  desolation  and  horrors  almost  to  the  gates  of  the 
town. 

Chief  Justice  Trott  was  in  England  at  this  time.  Upon 
the  completion  of  his  work  upon  the  codification  of  the 
laws  of  the  province,  he  had  applied  to  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors for  leave  of  absence  for  his  affairs  in  Great  Britain, 
and  on  the  13th  of  August,  1713,  leave  was  granted  him, 
his  commission  and  salary  to  continue  during  his  absence ; 
the  Governor  and  Council  were  to  appoint  some  one  to 
act  in  his  place  in  the  mean  while.  ^  He  does  not  appear  to 
have  immediately  availed  himself  of  the  leave,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  next  year  that  we  find  him  in  London. 
There  he  soon  thoroughly  ingratiated  himself  with  the 
Proprietors,  attained  the  most  complete  ascendency  over 
them,  and  obtained  from  them  the  most  extraordinary 
grant  of  powers  —  powers  greater,  indeed,  than  those  of 
the  Governor  himself,  and  this  notwithstanding  that  the 
Proprietors  had  at  this  time  so  excellent  a  Governor  in 
Carolina  as  Craven.  On  the  day  on  which  they  ordered  the 
proclamation  of  his  Majesty  King  George,  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1714,  they  issued  orders  making  Nicholas  Trott 
a  member  of  the  Council,  without  whose  presence  there 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Elvers),  256;  Commons  Journals. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  162. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  529 

should  be  no  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business,  and 
without  whose  consent  practically  no  law  should  be  passed. 
He  was  to  be  consulted  by  their  Lordships  upon  every 
proposed  measure,  and  on  his  part  he  agreed  to  carry  on 
a  regular  correspondence  with  their  Secretary,  and  to  give 
him  the  best  intelligence  with  respect  to  their  provincial 
affairs.  They  added  to  the  power,  dignity,  and  emolu- 
ments of  the  office  of  Chief  Justice.  They  empowered 
him  to  make  his  own  Provost  Marshal  of  the  court ;  in- 
creased his  salary  to  .£100  per  annum,  and  gave  him  <£100 
for  proclaiming  the  King ;  ordered  an  official  costume  for 
him,  as  Chief  Justice,  and  twenty  constable's  staves  to  be 
prepared,  with  the  King's  arms  on  the  top  and  the  arms 
of  the  province  underneath.  They  ordered  two  tran- 
scripts of  his  compilation  of  laws  to  be  made,  one  to  be 
forwarded  to  them  and  one  to  remain  in  his  hands,  for 
which  the  Treasurer  of  the  province  was  to  pay  £80. 
Sir  John  Colleton  appointed  him  his  deputy,  and  the 
Proprietors  at  the  same  time  appointed  his  son-in-law, 
William  Rhett,  then  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  Receiver 
General.^ 

Armed  with  these  great  powers,  Trott  returned  to 
Carolina.  The  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly  could 
not  believe  that  the  Proprietors  had  been  guilty  of  such  a 
piece  of  folly  and  tyranny  as  to  ordain  that  thenceforth 
the  Governor  and  four  councillors  should  not  have  power 
to  pass  laws  unless  Trott  was  one  of  the  quorum  !  They 
required  that  Mr.  Trott  should  produce  the  strange  letter, 
and  it  was  accordingly  read  to  them.  "  A  power  in  one 
man,"  said  Craven,  "not  heard  of  before!"  "An  ex- 
orbitant power,"  replied  the  Assembly,  "unheard  of  in 
any  of  the  British  dominions,  for  aught  we  know  in  the 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  T,  162-186  ;   Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So. 
Ca.j  vol.  I,  209;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  256. 
2m 


530  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

whole  world !  "  Mr.  Speaker  Rhett  dissented  to  the 
address  of  the  Assembly  to  the  Governor  upon  the  sub- 
ject, which  contained  the  expression  of  a  hope  that  Craven 
would  not  resign  because  of  the  want  of  confidence  the 
Lords  Proprietors  indicated.  The-  Assembly  refused  to 
allow  the  dissent  to  be  entered  in  the  journal.  "We  can't 
but  admire,"  they  said  to  the  Governor,  "  that  any  person 
acquainted  with  your  acceptable  administration  should  be 
so  forsaken  of  all  divine  influences  —  should  so  abandon 
his  reason,  so  diametrically  contradict  the  common  sense 
and  the  unquestionable  experience  of  the  more  general 
sentiments  of  the  whole  province  as  to  attempt  unjustly  to 
misrepresent  your  Honor  to  the  Lords  Proprietors."^ 

Mr.  Joseph  Boone,  who,  it  is,  to  be  supposed,  had  in 
some  way  purged  his  contempt  of  the  House  in  the  mat- 
ter of  his  libel  upon  Governor  Johnson,  was  now  sent 
back  to  England  to  protest  against  this  extraordinary 
grant  of  power  to  Trott,  and  with  him  was  sent  Mr. 
Richard  Berresford,  a  churchman.  They  were  not  only 
to  protest  to  the  Proprietors  against  the  veto  power  of 
Trott  and  his  appointment  at  will  of  Provost  Marshals, 
but  to  endeavor  also  to  obtain  redress  in  several  other 
matters.  They  were  to  obtain,  if  possible,  some  measures 
for  settling  the  price  of  lands  on  a  lasting  foundation ; 
for  the  allowance  of  the  bank  act ;  to  secure  Craven's 
continuance  in  office  ;  to  secure  the  printing  of  the  laws 
of  the  province ;  the  allowance  of  County  Courts  in  every 
county ;  leave  for  laying  out  Beaufort  in  lots  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Governor  ;  they  were  given  discretionary 
authority  to  confer  upon  any  other  matter.  Their  in- 
structions concluded  with  this  significant  clause  :  "  And 
in  case  the  proprietors  do  not  redress  our  grievances  after 
all  necessary  measures  have  been  taken  with  them,  we 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  268. 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  531 

direct  you  to  apply  yourselves  to  a  superior  power  in 
order  that  the  same  may  be  redressed."  ^ 

And  now  there  was  to  fall  upon  the  province  a  most  ter- 
rible calamity.  Some  years  before  the  Yamassees  had  de- 
serted the  Spaniards  who  had  executed  some  of  their  chiefs, 
and,  with  apparent  implacable  hatred  against  their  former 
friends,  removed  to  South  Carolina  to  the  territory  lying 
near  Port  Royal.  During  the  whole  of  Queen  Anne's 
war  they  were  the  allies  of  the  Carolinians,  and  in  re- 
venge for  their  own  wrongs,  marauding  bands  continually 
went  forth  to  the  southward  to  lurk  in  the  woods  near 
St.  Augustine,  or  make  midnight  attacks  upon  unguarded 
houses.  The  honor  of  the  party  was  at  stake,  they  con- 
sidered, if  they  returned  without  scalps,  Indian  slaves,  or 
Spanish  captives  whom  they  afterwards  put  to  death  with 
every  revolting  circumstance  of  inhumanity  and  savage 
torture.  While  availing  themselves  of  the  alliance  of 
these  Indians,  endeavoring  at  the  same  time  to  check 
their  barbarities,  the  Carolinians  offered  them  a  reward 
of  five  pounds  for  every  Spanish  prisoner  brought  un- 
harmed to  Charles  Town,  whom  they  returned  in  safety 
to  their  friends  upon  the  payment  of  their  ransom. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  the  regulations  in  regard  to  the 
Indian  trade  had  not  been  properly  enforced  during  Queen 
Anne's  war,  and  there  had  doubtless  been  abuses  which  the 
commissioner  on  the  reestablishment  of  peace  had  endeav- 
ored to  remedy  and  restrain.  Besides  occasional  encroach- 
ments on  their  lands,  the  abuses  consisted  in  fraudulent 
transactions  in  buying  skins  and  captives,  the  seizure  of 
Indian  property  on  pretence  of  debt,  and  the  demand  of 
exorbitant  prices  of  articles  of  traffic — contraband  rum  in- 
cluded, the  wrongful  detention  in  bondage  of  many  who 
claimed  to  be  free,  personal  ill  treatment,  immoralities,  and 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  258;  MSS.  Journals. 


532  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  instigation  of  feuds.  The  nature  of  many  abuses,  and 
the  rehictance  of  the  Indians  in  seeking  a  formal  trial  before 
commissioners  perhaps  hundreds  of  miles  away,  rendered 
impossible  the  satisfactory  adjustment  of  difficulties  how- 
ever wise  the  laws  might  be  that  made  to  that  end ;  while 
on  the  other  hand,  anxiety  on  account  of  debts  justly  due, 
retaliation  for  injuries,  cherished  enmities,  and  a  thirst  for 
bloody  revenge  had  not  wholly  ceased  to  exist  at  any  period 
throughout  a  long  series  of  years.  Whatever  were  the 
grievances  of  the  Yamassees,  it  was  evident  they  had  been 
encouraged  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Spaniards ;  for  on  the 
day  they  began  their  outbreak  against  the  English,  they 
sent  all  their  women  and  children  to  St.  Augustine  for 
protection,  and  on  their  defeat,  retreated  thither  them- 
selves with  scalps  and  plunder,  and  were  received  as  in 
triumph  with  the  ringing  of  bells  and  salutes  of  artillery.^ 

For  some  time  before  the  outbreak,  it  had  been  noticed 
that  the  chief  warriors  of  the  Yamassees  made  frequent 
visits  to  St.  Augustine,  and  returned  with  presents  of 
hats  and  jackets,  and  with  knives,  hatchets,  firearms,  and 
ammunition.2  They  partook  of  food  with  the  Governor, 
and  renewed  by  ceremonies  their  friendship  and  alle- 
giance. Yet  so  sure  were  the  Carolinians  of  the  antipathy 
of  the  whole  Yamassee  nation  to  the  Spaniards,  that  they 
anticipated  no  danger  to  themselves. 

It  was  customary  for  the  traders  to  court  the  favor  of 
some  influential  chieftain  among  the  Indians,  with  whom 
in  some  instances,  savages  though  they  were,  no  danger, 
difficulty,  or  personal  sacrifice  could  weaken  the  holy 
claims  of  friendship.  One  of  these,  Sanute,  had  become 
the  friend  of  John  Fraser,  a  Scotch  Highlander,  who  lived 
and  traded  among  his  people.      Sanute  had  been  to  St. 

»  Reports,  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  354. 
2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  192. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  533 

Augustine,  and  on  his  return  he  brought  some  sweet  herbs 
to  his  friend's  house,  and  bruising  them  in  a  basin  of 
water,  requested  the  privilege  of  washing  therewith  the 
face  of  Mrs.  Fraser,  as  a  testimony  of  his  sincere  friend- 
ship ;  and  placing  then  his  hands  upon  his  breast,  assured 
her  that  all  in  his  heart  she  should  for  the  future  know. 
About  nine  days  before  hostilities  began,  he  appeared 
again  and  told  her  a  terrible  slaughter  of  all  the  English 
was  determined  upon,  and  would  take  place  as  soon  as 
\f  the  bloody  stick,  the  emblem  of  war,  should  be  returned 
/^by  the  Creeks  who,  with  the  Yamassees,  the  Cherokees, 
and  many  other  nations,  were  uniting  with  the  Spaniards, 
who  had  assured  them  that  though  peace  now  existed,  yet 
soon  war  would  be  declared  by  Spain  against  the  English. 
Sanute  then  urged  Mrs.  Fraser  and  her  husband  to  fly 
with  their  child  in  all  haste  to  Charles  Town  and  offered 
them  the  use  of  his  own  canoe.  Placing  his  hand  upon 
his  heart,  he  declared  he  had  told  them  all  he  knew  ;  if 
still  they  would  not  go,  he  promised  to  save  them  from 
torture  by  claiming  the  last  office  of  a  friend  in  taking 
their  lives  with  his  own  hands.  Fraser  doubted ;  but  his 
wife  being  terrified,  he  hastened  with  her  and  most  of  his 
effects  to  Charles  Town,  unfortunately  without  communi- 
cating to  others  the  intelligence  he  had  received. ^ 

Other  intimations  of  the  approaching  danger,  spreading 
through  the  province,  induced  Governor  Craven  to  dis- 
patch Captain  Nairne,  agent  for  Indian  affairs,  and  Mr. 
John  Cochran,  gentlemen  Avell  acquainted  with  the 
Indians,  to  know  the  cause  of  their  discontent.  These 
agents  went  at  once  to  the  chief  warriors  at  Pocotaligo, 

1  The  family  ]tradition,  however,  has  always  been  that  Fraser  extended 
the  information,  but  that  his  friends  and  neighbors,  like  himself,  doubted 
its  truth.  They  did  not  act  upon  it,  as  the  importunities  of  his  wife  in- 
duced him  to  do  for  her  sake. 


534  HISTOliY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

and  offered  speedy  satisfaction  for  any  injuries  of  which 
they  might  complain.  The  Indians  feigned  a  friendly 
disposition,  at  night  prepared  a  good  supper  for  their 
visitors,  and  Captain  Nairne  and  his  party  went  to  sleep 
in  apparent  tranquillity.  But  at  break  of  day  April  15, 
1715,  the  massacre  began.  The  round-house  or  council- 
room  was  beset.  Captain  Nairne,  John  Wright,  and  Thomas 
Ruffly  were  murdered.  Mr.  Cochran,  his  wife,  and  four 
children  were  at  first  kept  prisoners  and  afterwards  slain; 
Seaman  Burroughs,  a  captain  of  militia,  a  strong  and 
active  man,  rushed  through  the  midst  of  the  assailants 
and  escaped,  though  wounded  on  the  cheek.  Swimming 
the  river  and  running  several  miles,  he  gave  the  alarm  to 
the  planters  in  the  neighborhood  of  Port  Royal.  In  the 
meantime  the  houses  of  all  the  traders  and  other  whites 
in  Pocotaligo  were  attacked,  and  more  than  ninety  per- 
sons there,  and  on  adjacent  plantations,  fell  victims  to  the 
fury  of  the  savages. 

The  Indians  divided  themselves  into  two  parties ;  one 
attacked  Port  Royal  and  the  other  St.  Bartholomew's. 
Fortunately,  a  merchant  ship  happened  to  be  in  Port 
Royal  River,  on  board  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Guy, 
with  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Helena,  about  300  in 
number,  took  refuge  by  the  timely  warning  of  Mr.  Bur- 
roughs. While  only  a  few  families  were  here  massacred, 
in  St.  Bartholomew's  about  100  people  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Indians  who  came  down  as  far  as  Stono,  burning 
churches  and  houses  in  their  way.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Osborn  and  some  others  escaped  to  Charles  Town.  Mr. 
William  Bray,  his  wife  and  children,  and  several  others, 
finding  friends  among  the  Indians,  were  at  first  spared ; 
but  while  attempting  to  escape  were  all  put  to  death. ^ 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.j  vol.  I,  218;  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  168-161 ;  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  258-264. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  535 

Governor  Craven,  in  this  terrible  calamity,  showed  him- 
self as  bold  and  vigorous  a  Governor  as  he  was  a  wise  and 
judicious  administrator  in  the  times  of  peace.  The  most 
spirited  measures  were  adopted,  both  for  offence  and  de- 
fence. Martial  law  was  proclaimed,  and  embargo  laid  on 
all  ships.  Robert  Daniel  was  appointed  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor and  left  in  town,  while  the  Governor,  collecting  a 
troop  of  horse  and  accompanied  by  a  party  of  volunteers, 
set  out  himself  at  their  head  for  Pocotaligo.  Gathering 
as  many  as  he  could  in  Colleton,  at  the  head  of  240  men 
he  marched  directly  against  the  enemy,  after  dispatching 
a  courier  to  Colonel  Mackay  with  orders  to  raise  imme- 
diately what  forces  he  could  and  to  proceed,  by  water,  to 
meet  him  at  Yamassee  Town.  The  Governor  halted  for 
the  night  near  the  Combahee  River,  within  sixteen  miles 
of  the  enemy's  town,  and  was  attacked  early  the  next 
morning  by  about  500  of  the  Yamassees.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  surprise,  he  soon  put  his  men  in  order  and,  after 
an  engagement  of  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  routed  the 
enemy  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man  killed  and  a  few 
wounded ;  while  of  the  Indians,  besides  the  wounded  some 
of  their  chief  leaders  were  slain.  Without  guides  for 
crossing  the  river,  and  observing  the  great  number  of  the 
enemy,  the  Governor  returned  to  Charles  Town. 

Colonel  Mackay,  in  pursuit  of  his  orders,  on  his  part 
surprised  the  Indians  and  drove  them  from  their  town, 
in  which  they  had  stored  up  quantities  of  provisions  and 
plunder.  While  in  possession  of  this  place,  learning 
that  the  enemy,  200  in  number,  had  posted  themselves  in 
another  fort,  he  sent  140  men  to  attack  it.  At  this  time 
"  a  young  stripling  named  Palmer,"  who  had  been  out  on 
a  scout  with  sixteen  men,  coming  to  Mackay 's  assistance, 
at  once  scaled  the  fort  and  attacked  the  Indians  within 
their  trenches,  but  was  forced  to  retreat ;  yet  a  second 


636  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

time  he  effected  an  entrance  with  his  men  and  completely 
drove  the  enemy  from  the  fort,  who  fled  but  to  be  shot 
down  by  Colonel  Mackay's  forces. 

While  the  activity  of  the  Carolinians  checked  the  in- 
cursion on  this  quarter,  a  body  of  400  Indians  from  the 
northward  came  down  towards  Goose  Creek.  A  party  of 
them  entered  Mr.  John  Heme's^  plantation  near  the 
Santee,  and  after  being  hospitably  entertained  with  pro- 
visions, treacherously  murdered  him  and  began  their  dep- 
redations. Upon  news  of  this.  Captain  Thomas  Barker, 
collecting  ninety  horsemen,  advanced  to  meet  them.  Trust- 
ing to  an  Indian  guide,  he  was  led  into  an  ambuscade,  in 
a  thicket  of  trees  and  bushes,  where  the  enemy  lay  con- 
cealed on  the  ground.  The  Carolinians  had  advanced  into 
the  midst  of  the  enemy  before  they  were  aware  of  any 
danger.  The  Indians,  springing  from  their  lair  and  pour- 
ing in  a  volley,  instantly  killed  Captain  Barker  and  several 
of  his  men  and  put  the  rest  to  flight.  So  great  was  now 
the  panic  that  almost  the  whole  parish  of  Goose  Creek 
were  fleeing  the  town.  Upon  one  plantation,  however, 
seventy  white  men,  with  forty  negroes,  had  thrown  up  a 
breastwork,  but  while  unwarily  listening  to  feigned  pro- 
posals of  peace,  they  permitted  the  fort  to  be  surprised 
and  only  a  few  escaped  a  horrid  butchery.  The  incur- 
sion was  now  fortunately  checked.  The  savages,  march- 
ing triumphantly  onward,  were  met  by  Captain  Chicken 
and  the  Goose  Creek  militia,  and,  after  a  long  and  obsti- 
nate engagement,  on  June  13  were  defeated  and  driven 
back  and  the  province  thus  secured  in  this  direction. 

All  plantations  and  settlements  beyond  twenty  miles 
from  the  town  were  deserted.  More  and  more  alarming 
rumors  reached  the  Governor.  No  hopes  were  now  enter- 
tained of  assistance  from  the  Catawbas,  the  Cherokees,  or 
1  The  name  is  also  found  spelt  Hearne,  and  now  Hyrne. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  537 

the  Congarees.  All  were  connected  with  this  formidable 
conspiracy,  which  extended  from  St.  Augustine  to  Cape 
Fear.  Fears  were,  indeed,  entertained  of  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  whites.  The  Indians  could  number  from  8000 
to  10,000  warriors.  There  were  on  Carolina's  muster-rolls 
but  1200  men  fit  to  bear  arms.  Nevertheless  Governor 
Craven,  relying  on  the  defences  of  the  town,  determined 
to  send  his  forces  into  the  wilderness  to  meet  the  enemy. 
He  summoned  the  Assembly  May  6,  and  thus  addressed 
them :  "  Expedition  is  the  life  of  action  .  .  .  bring  the 
women  and  children  into  our  town,  and  all  provisions 
from  all  the  exposed  plantations ;  try  to  secure  some  of 
the  Indians  to  our  interests  ;  garrisons  and  military  stores 
must  be  provided.  Virginia  and  New  England  must  be 
solicited  for  arms  and  aid."  ^  In  response  to  this  ad- 
dress, the  Assembly  promptly,  on  the  10th,  passed  an  act 
to  confirm  and  justify  the  action  of  the  Governor  in  pro- 
claiming martial  law  and  appointing  a  Deputy  Governor, 
and  all  the  measures  taken  by  the  Governor,  Deputy 
Governor,  and  members  of  Council  for  the  defence 
of  the  province.2  On  the  same  day,  another  act  was 
passed  to  empower  the  Governor  and  Council  to  carry  on 
the  war,  by  which  the  Governor  and  Council  were  em- 
powered to  impress,  for  the  public  service,  all  ships, 
vessels,  arms,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  military  stores. 
Commissioners  were  appointed  to  seize  goods  and  mer- 
chandise to  the  amount  of  X2500,  from  the  proceeds  of 
which  to  purchase  arms  and  ammunition.  They  were  also 
authorized  to  impress  medicines  and  drugs  for  the  sick  and 
wounded.  Martial  law,  as  then  proclaimed,  was  allowed  ; 
but  to  extend  no  further  than  to  military  affairs.^ 

Governor  Craven,  on  May  23,  addressed  a  communica- 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  266;  MSS.  Journals. 

2  Statutes,  vol.  II,  623.  3  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  624. 


538  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

tion  to  Lord  Townshend,  Secretary  of  State  to  the  new 
monarch,  informing  him  of  the  calamity  to  the  province, 
and  appealing  to  him  for  assistance.  "  It  is  a  great  pity, 
my  Lord,"  he  wrote,  "so  fine  and  flourishing  a  country 
should  be  lost  for  want  of  men  and  arms,  a  country  so 
beneficial  to  the  Crown  by  its  trade  and  once  so  safe  to 
other  colonies  by  reason  of  the  vast  number  of  Indians 
it  was  in  alliance  with.  I  have  no  occasion,  therefore, 
to  press  your  Lordship  to  consider  that  if  once  we  are 
driven  from  hence,  the  French  from  Movill  (Mobile)  or 
from  Canada  or-  from  Old  France  will  certainly  get  foot- 
ing here  if  not  prevented,  and  then,  with  their  own 
Indians  and  with  those  that  are  now  our  enemies,  they 
will  be  able  to  march  against  all  or  any  colony  on  the 
main  and  threaten  the  whole  British  settlements."  ^ 

This  communication  was,  on  its  receipt  on  the  7th  of 
July,  laid  before  the  King,  who,  through  General  Stan- 
hope, Townshend's  fellow-secretary,  transmitted  it  to  the 
Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantation,  with  instruc- 
tions to  report  what  might  be  the  most  proper  and  speedy 
method  of  assisting  the  colonists  in  Carolina. ^ 

The  next  day  Carteret,  the  Palatine,  James  Bertie  for 
the  minor  Duke  of  Beaufort,  and  Sir  John  Colleton  also 
addressed  the  Lords  of  Trade,  informing  them  of  letters 
received  two  days  before  giving  an  account  of  the  de- 
plorable condition  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  Carolina  by 
the  Indian  invasion,  and  of  their  barbarities  in  torturing  to 
death  most  of  the  British  traders.^     The  case,  they  said, 
was  the  worse  because  it  did  not  proceed  from  any  provo- 
\  cation,  as  they  were  informed  ;  that  it  was  believed  that 
1  all  the  Indian  nations,  amounting  to  10,000  in  number,  had 
*  combined  to  ruin  all  the  British  settlements  on  the  Con- 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  177, 179. 
2/6td.,  187,  180.  »Ibid.,  193. 


UNDER   THE  PKOPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  539 

tinent  of  America  to  which  Carolina  was  the  frontier. 
They,  the  Proprietors,  had  met  on  this  melancholy  occasion 
and,  to  their  great  grief,  found  they  were  unable  of  them- 
selves to  afford  suitable  assistance  ;  and  that  unless  his 
Majesty  would  graciously  please  to  interpose  by  sending 
men,  arms,  and  ammunition,  they  could  foresee  nothing  but 
the  utter  destruction  of  his  Majesty's  faithful  subjects  in 
those  parts.  The  Hon.  Charles  Craven,  then  Governor, 
had  behaved  himself  as  a  man  of  his  quality  ought,  with 
the  utmost  bravery,  and  to  his  conduct  it  was  owing  that 
the  country  had  not  already  been  taken  by  the  enemy. 
They  would,  they  said,  most  willingly  give  at  their  board 
sufficient  security  to  repay  the  government  such  sums  of 
money  as  should  be  expended  upon  this  necessary  occa- 
sion if  some  of  their  members,  particularly  his  Grace  the 
Duke  of  Beliufort  and  the  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Craven, 
could,  by  reason  of  their  minority,  be  bound.  Whatever 
assistance  his  Majesty  could  afford,  they  hoped  might  be 
speedily  sent.  They  retained  one  ship  on  purpose  to 
carry  arms,  and  would  procure  others  on  a  day's  notice. 
They  had  consulted  General  Nicholson,  who  had  com- 
manded forces  against  these  Indians,  and  they  gave  his 
estimate  as  to  what  would  be  necessary  for  the  defence 
of  the  province. 

y  Thus  it  was  that  the  Proprietors  sought  to  relieve 
themselves  of  responsibility  in  this  great  emergency, 
and  to  turn  their  colonists.  Landgraves,  Caciques,  and 
commoners  all  over  to  the  protection  of  the  Crown.  But 
protection  and  obedience  are  the  reciprocal  obligations  of 
government.  If  by  reason  of  minorities  among  their 
Lordships,  they  could  afford  no  protection  in  time  of 
need,  what  right  had  they,  during  such  minorities,  to  be 
governing  the  province  they  could  not  protect  ?  This 
question  was  arising  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.     It 


540  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

was  being  asked  in  London  as  well  as  in  Charles  Town. 
The  Board  of  Trade  was  only  too  ready  to  take  it  up,  and 
to  press  the  Proprietors  for  an  answer.  On  the  receipt  of 
the  letters  from  Governor  Craven  and  from  the  Proprie- 
tors, the  board  signified  their  desire  to  give  their  Lord- 
ships an  opportunity  to  discuss  with  them  the  subject. 
And  now  the  agency  which  the  Assembly  had  established 
in  London  came  in  most  opportunely.  Mr.  Kettleby  was 
on  hand  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  colonists. 

On  the  13th  of  July  Lord  Carteret,  the  Palatine,  Mr. 
Kettleby,  the  agent  of  the  province,  Mr.  Robert  Johnson, 
son  of  Sir  Nathaniel,  and  Mr.  Shelton,  secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Proprietors,  appeared  before  the  Board  of  Trade, 
when  Lord  Carteret  informed  the  board  that  the  Lords 
Proprietors  had  petitioned  his  Majesty  for  assistance 
towards  the  preservation  of  the  province  which  they 
were  unable  to  support  themselves,  the  minority  of  two 
of  the  Proprietors  making  it  impossible  to  raise  money 
by  mortgaging  their  charter.  He  urged,  however,  that 
their  charter  would  be  a  virtual  security  for  what  his 
Majesty  should  be  pleased  to  advance  them  in  arms  and 
ammunition  and  other  necessaries  for  the  defence  of  the 
province,  though  it  would  not  be  so  to  any  private  per- 
son. Mr.  Johnson  observed  that  though  Carolina  was 
then  under  the  Proprietors,  it  was  a  frontier  to  the  colonies 
under  his  Majesty's  immediate  government,  and  therefore 
he  hoped  his  Majesty  would  send  the  supply  of  arms. 
The  board  desired  that  Lord  Carteret  would  put  in  writ- 
ing the  particulars  of  what  he  desired. 

The  next  day,  the  14th,  the  two  secretaries.  Lord  Town- 
shend  and  General  Stanhope,  had  some  conference  with 
the  Board  of  Trade,  upon  which  certain  queries  were  pre- 
sented to  the  Proprietors  and  they  were  requested  to 
attend  the  day  after  with  their  answers  in  writing. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  541 

Lord  Carteret  and  Mr.  Ashley,  two  of  the  Proprietors, 
appeared  accordmgly  on  the  15th,  and  in  answering  the 
questions  submitted  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  Lord  Carteret 
said  that  the  effects  they  had  lately  received  from  Caro- 
lina were  rice,  which  might  be  disposed  of  for  about 
£4000  sterling,  which  they  were  willing  should  be  applied 
towards  paying  for  the  arms  proposed  to  be  sent.  That 
1500  or  even  1000  muskets,  which  General  Nicholson 
estimated  were  necessary,  could  not  be  immediately  fur- 
nished but  by  his  Majesty's  office  of  Ordnance ;  they 
offered  the  rice  as  security  towards  the  payment  for  these 
arms.  They  were  not  sure  of  being  supplied  with  arms 
and  ammunition  from  New  England  and  New  York,  to 
which  places  the  Assembly  had  sent  the  value  of  <£2500. 
He  urged  again  the  security  which  his  Majesty  would 
have  by  reason  of  the  charter.  It  was  observed  that  it 
would  take  too  long  to  send  transport  ships  from  Caro- 
lina to  fetch  what  men  his  Majesty  might  think  fit  to 
order  from  any  of  the  northern  colonies,  —  to  which 
Lord  Carteret  replied  that  the  Proprietors  did  not  desire 
any  men,  but  if  the  King  would  send  some,  merchant 
ships  might  be  found  to  transport  them ;  but  the  Pro- 
prietors, he  was  compelled  to  add,  were  not  able  at 
present  to  hire  such  ships  themselves,  and  therefore  they 
prayed  credit  from  the  government  to  enable  them  to  do 
it.  Lord  Carteret  said  about  500  men  would  be  sufficient ; 
but  the  Proprietors  expected  that  the  officers  who  should 
command  these  men  should  be  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 
Governor  of  Carolina.  The  board  at  once  objected,  and 
pointed  out  the  difficulty  that  would  arise  from  his 
Majesty's  officers  submitting  to  the  orders  of  any  person 
not  in  immediate  commission  from  him.  The  board  then 
went  to  the  root  of  the  matter  and  suggested  a  surrender 
of  the  charter.     To  this  the  Proprietors  replied  that  they 


542  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

were  willing  to  surrender  for  an  equitable  consideration, 
but  not  otherwise.  That  they  thought  any  particular 
Proprietor  surrendering  his  right  would  be  to  advance  the 
interest  of  the  rest.  That  their  Lordships'  ancestors  had 
been  at  very  great  expense  in  settling  and  improving  this 
colony,  which,  in  customs  on  the  product  thereof,  had 
been  of  considerable  benefit  to  this  kingdom,  there  being 
annually  produced  in  Carolina  3000  tons  of  rice,  one- 
third  of  which  was  spent  in  the  country,  and  the  customs 
on  the  other  two-thirds  imported  here^  amounted  to 
j6  10,000  per  annum,  or  a  greater  profit  to  this  nation  if 
the  said  rice  be  reexported  by  the  returns  —  fifty  thou- 
sand deer-skins,  the  duties  whereof  are  XIOOO,  besides 
great  quantities  of  pitch,  tar,  and  other  naval  stores. 
That  their  quit-rents,  amounting  to  about  X2000  per 
annum  that  country's  money  (i.e.  currency),  are  applied 
to  the  payment  of  the  Governor's  salary,  which  is  X300 
per  annum,  and  for  maintaining  the  other  public  officers 
in  that  government.  That  a  duty  is  raised  in  Carolina 
of  a  penny  per  skin  exported,  which  is  applied  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  clergy  there.  That  in  1707,  when 
Carolina  was  attacked  by  the  French,  it  cost  the  province 
£20,000,  and  that  neither  his  Majesty  nor  any  of  his 
predecessors  had  been  at  any  charge  from  the  first  grant 
to  defend  the  said  province  against  the  French  or  other 
enemies.^  To  which  their  Lordships  might  have  added, 
but  did  not,  that  neither  had  they,  the  Proprietors. 

Landgrave  Kettleby,  the  agent  of  Carolina,  and  the 
merchants  in  London  trading  thither,  on  the  18th,  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade, 
imploring  the  assistance  and  protection  of  the  Crown. 
Most  of  us,  said  the  merchants,  have  large  debts  and 
effects  there,  some  have  large  plantations,  and  the  loss  of* 
1  Colonial  Jiecords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  193-196. 


UNDER   THE  PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  543 

these  would  be  considerable.  But  when  they  reflected 
upon  the  ruin  of  so  flourishing,  so  hopeful  a  province, 
that  had  for  many  years  taken  so  much  of  English  manu- 
factures, and  brought  such  a  large  revenue  to  the  Crown, 
and  yet  from  its  first  settlement  had  not  put  the  Crown 
to  one  penny  expense  ;  when  they  reflected  upon  the  loss 
of  so  many  Englishmen's  lives,  persons  who  had  always 
behaved  themselves  so  dutifully  to  the  Crown,  and  had 
never  forfeited  their  rights  as  subjects  to  protection,  and 
yet  were  then  in  imminent  danger  of  being  massacred 
by  savages,  and  perhaps  being  roasted  on  slow  fires, 
scalped,  stuck  with  lightwood,  and  other  inexpressible 
tortures  ;  when  they  reflected  that  this  general  revolt, 
concerted  by  several  distant  Indian  nations,  who  had  never 
before  had  policy  enough  to  form  themselves  into  alli- 
ances, and  could  not  have  proceeded  as  they  had,  unless 
directed  and  supplied  by  the  Spaniards  at  Fort  Augustine 
and  the  French  at  Moville  ;  that  Carolina,  being  the  fron- 
tier of  all  the  other  settlements,  which,  if  that  should  mis- 
carry, would  soon  involve  all  the  other  colonies  in  the 
same  ruin,  and  the  whole  English  Empire,  religion,  and 
name  be  extirpated  in  America,  —  these  dreadful  consid- 
erations superseded  their  present  losses  and  induced  them 
to  apply  to  their  Lordships  for  immediate  relief  and  as- 
sistance against  this  public  calamity. 

They  represented  that  a  ship  was  then  lying  in  the 
river,  called  the  Industry^  of  one  hundred  tons'  burthen, 
John  Woddin,  commander,  ready  to  sail  to  Carolina,  and 
only  stayed,  at  their  request,  for  the  immediate  transporta- 
tion of  such  arms  and  ammunition  as  his  Majesty  would 
graciously  please  to  furnish.  That  with  some  new  assur- 
ances of  speedy  reinforcement  of  men  they  hoped  to  en- 
courage the  colonists  to  hold  out  a  little  longer ;  but  if 
this  ship  should  go  thither  in  ballast,  and  bring  theni 


544  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

nothing  more  solid  than  words  and  promises,  they  appre- 
hended despair  would  suggest  to  them  that  their  miseries, 
though  known  in  England,  were  not  duly  regarded,  and 
that,  with  no  prospect  of  timely  relief,  they  would  abandon 
the  province.^ 

Fortunately  for  the  colonists.  Governor  Craven,  how- 
ever urgent  he  had  been  in  his  own  direct  appeal  to  the 
Royal  Government,  and  that  through  Landgrave  Kettleby, 
the  agent  of  the  province,  had  not  depended  upon  the 
result  of  these  appeals.  With  great  energy  and  execu- 
tive ability,  and  with  a  courage  that  rose  superior  to 
the  occasion,  he  was  able  to  meet  the  emergency  and 
to  rescue  his  province  without  the  aid  over  which  the 
Proprietors  and  the  Board  of  Trade  were  higgling  while 
the  Indian  savages  were  pressing  to  the  walls  of  the 
town. 

He  dispatched  Francis  Holmes  to  New  England  to 
purchase  arms  with  the  X2500  appropriated  by  the 
Assembly  for  that  purpose;  and  sent  Arthur  Middleton 
to  Virginia  for  assistance.  The  forces  of  the  colony  were 
organized  by  the  appointment  of  James  Moore  as  Lieu- 
tenant General,  John  Barnwell,  Colonel,  and  Alexander 
Mackay,  Lieutenant  Colonel.  These  were  to  consist  of 
600  white  inhabitants  to  be  commanded  by  captains  of 
sixties,  and  400  negroes  likewise  divided  into  companies 
of  sixties,  commanded  by  captains  and  lieutenants.  North 
Carolina  promptly  reciprocated  the  assistance  she  had  re- 
ceived from  this  colony  two  years  before.  Governor 
Eden  and  Council,  on  May  25,  1715,  called  for  volunteers 
for  South  Carolina,  to  go  at  the  expense  of  their  province, 
and  organized  a  force  of  fifty  men  to  be  sent  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Maurice  Moore,  a  brother  of  the  gen- 
eral of  South  Carolina,  and  who  had  gone  with  him  on 
1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  196-199. 


tTNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  545 

his  expedition  against  the  Tuscaroras  in  1711,  but  had  re- 
mained in  the  northern  colony. 

About  the  middle  of  July,  bis  Majesty's  ship,  the  Valour^ 
Captain  St.  Loe,  arrived  with  about  160  small  arms,  ten 
barrels  of  powder,  and  twenty-five  casks  of  shot,  sent  by 
Governor  Spotswood  of  Virginia,  and  on  Saturday,  the 
16  th,  Captain  Middle  ton  arrived  with  120  men  obtained 
with  the  assistance  of  Governor  Spotswood,  but  for  whom 
he  had  been  compelled  to  agree  to  the  most  stringent 
terms.  Soon  after  the  Suecess^  man-of-war,  came  bringing 
thirty  more  men  from  Virginia,  and  eighty  whites  and 
sixty  Indians  from  North  Carolina. 

North  Carolina,  recognizing  her  obligations,  had  stopped 
to  ask  no  condition  for  the  assistance  she  now  sent  to  her 
sister  southern  colony,  but  Virginia  did  not  act  so  gener- 
ously. Mr.  Middleton  upon  his  first  arrival  was  received 
with  great  civility  and  large  promises  of  assistance,  but 
when  the  terms  came  to  be  arranged  with  Governor  Spots- 
wood,  he  was  forced  to  promise  that  for  every  man  sent 
Governor  Craven  should  return  an  able-bodied  woman 
who  should  continue  in  Virginia  all  the  time  the  men  sent 
were  absent ;  the  transportation  of  both  parties  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  South  Carolina.  This  arrangement  was 
found  impracticable,  and  Governor  Craven  offered  in  lieu 
to  increase  the  hire  of  the  men  to  <£4  per  month,  which 
modification  of  the  agreement  was  accepted  by  Governor 
Spotswood.  South  Carolina  was  already  in  debt  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  payment  of  the  debt  was  also  made  a  con- 
dition of  the  aid  sent.^ 

In  pursuance  of  his  purpose  of  bringing  the  women  and 
children  under  the  protection  of  the  fortifications  of  the 
town,  and  assuming  the  offensive  against  the  Indians, 
Governor  Craven  had  gone  to  the  Santee,  where  he  was 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  253,  254. 
2n 


546  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

organizing  the  forces  for  an  advance  in  that  direction. 
While  he  was  so  engaged,  700  Apalachis,  who  had  joined 
the  Yamassees,  again  appeared  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
province  and  destroyed  all  the  plantations  in  their  way, 
among  them  Lady  Blake's  plantation  on  Wadmalaw  River, 
Colonel  Eve's  on  the  Tugaloo,  and  burned  Mr.  Boone's 
settlement  and  a  ship  he  was  building.  Governor  Craven 
at  once  hastened  to  meet  this  new  outbreak ;  but  upon  his 
approach  the  Indians  fled  over  Pon  Pon  bridge  across  the 
Edisto,  which  they  burned,  having  killed  four  or  five  white 
men.  Captain  Stone,  sent  with  six  periaguas  and  100 
men  to  Port  Royal,  cut  off  six  canoes  of  the  enemy  and 
drove  them  into  the  woods.  ^  '  Governor  Craven,  having 
cleared  the  province  of  the  Indians,  in  December  sent  out 
an  expedition  under  Colonel  George  Chicken  and  Colonel 
Maurice  Moore,  who,  crossing  the  Savannah  at  Fort 
Moore,  a  few  miles  below  the  present  site  of  the  city  of 
Augusta,  pursued  the  Indians  into  the  wilds  of  the  Over- 
Hill  Cherokees,  following  them  as  far  as  the  Hiwassee 
River  in  western  North  Carolina. ^ 

When  the  Assembly  reconvened  in  February,  1716,  hos- 
tilities had  almost  entirely  ceased,  and  the  chief  object  of 
solicitude  was  the  securing,  if  possible,  a  permanent  peace 
with  all  the  surrounding  Indian  tribes.  The  Yamassees 
had  acted  prematurely,  and  although  400  whites  had  been 
killed  and  an  immense  amount  of  property  destroyed,  the 
traders  having  sustained  a  loss  of  <£  10,000  in  debts,  yet 
the  invincibility  of  the  Carolinians  against  the  combined 
power  of   the  savages  had  been  so  forcibly  proved  that 


1  Kamsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  163,  267  ;  Letter  from  Carolina, 
1715,  Tear  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Ficken),  1894,  Appendix,  319. 

2  See  journal  of  the  expedition  supposed  to  be  that  of  Colonel  Chicken, 
published  in  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Ficken),  1895,  Appendix, 
324-352. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERi^ENT  547 

never  again  was  a  united  plot  contrived,  or  an  attempt 
made  to  penetrate  in  hostile  bands  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
capital.^ 

The  Yamassees,  upon  their  defeat  and  expulsion  from 
Carolina,  went  directly  to  the  Spanish  territories  in 
Florida,  where  they  were  received,  as  we  have  said,  with 
bells  ringing  and  guns  firing  as  if  they  had  come  victo- 
riously from  the  field.  Two  women  prisoners  whom  they 
had  carried  to  St.  Augustine  reported  to  the  Carolinians 
the  kind  reception  the  Indians  met  with  from  the  Spaniards. 
It  was  again,  doubtless,  the  settlement  at  Port  Royal  and 
the  laying  out  of  the  town  of  Beaufort  there  that  had 
aroused  the  Spaniards  to  set  on  the  Indians  against  the 
English.  They  had  destroyed  the  attempted  settlement 
of  Lord  Cardross  there  in  1686;  and  now,  thirty  years 
after,  they  put  up  the  Indians  to  prevent  the  establish- 
ment of  the  town  of  Beaufort.  Driven  from  their  lands, 
the  Yamassees  conceived  inveterate  ill-will  and  rancor  to 
all  Carolinians,  and  watched  every  opportunity  of  in- 
dulging their  vengeance  on  them.  Furnished  with  arms 
and  ammunition  by  the  Spaniards,  they  broke  out  in 
small  scalping  parties  and  infested  the  frontier  of  the 
settlements,  often  inflicting  the  most  atrocious  cruelties 
and  tortures. 2 

The  Lords  Proprietors  had  written  to  Governor  Craven 
on  the  29th  of  March,  1713,  that  as  Sir  Anthony  Craven 
had  died,  and  as  he  might  wish  to  come  to  England,  they 
gave  him  permission  to  do  so,  and  intimated  their  inten- 
tion of  appointing  Robert  Johnson,  son  of  Sir  Nathaniel, 
to  succeed  him.^  Craven  had  not  availed  himself  of  the 
permission  at  the  time,  and  he  would  not  abandon  the 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Elvers),  268. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  223. 

3  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  161. 


548  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

province  as  long  as  it  was  menaced  with  danger.  But 
now  that  the  Indians  had  been  defeated  and  the  security  of 
the  province  assured,  he  felt  himself  at  liberty  to  do  so. 
His  personal  courage,  upright  character,  and  devotion  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  government  had  won  for  him  the 
esteem  and  warm  attachment  of  the  Carolinians.  Their 
expressions  to  each  other  on  parting  were  full  of  the  evi- 
dences of  their  mutual  friendship  and  respect.  He  left 
Colonel  Robert  Daniel  Deputy  Governor. ^ 

A  melancholy  accident  happened  upon  his  departure. 
He  embarked  for  England  on  the  25th  of  April,  1716. 
While  the  man-of-war  in  which  he  was  to  sail  rode 
at  anchor  near  the  bar,  the  Rev.  Gideon  Johnson,  the 
commissary  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  with  thirty  other 
gentlemen,  accompanied  him  in  a  sloop  to  take  leave 
of  him.  On  their  leturn  a  storm  arose,  the  sloop  was 
overset,  and  Mr.  Johnson,  lame  of  the  gout  and  being 
in  the  hold,  was  drowned.  The  other  gentlemen  were 
saved.  Afterwards  the  sloop  drove,  and  it  was  remarkable 
that  Mr.  Johnson's  body  was  taken  out  while  it  was  beat- 
ing against  the  same  bank  of  sand  upon  which  he  had 
almost  perished  at  his  first  arrival. ^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  268. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  231  ;  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  98. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

1716 

When  the  Tuscaroras  had  risen,  in  1711,  on  the  Neuse, 
South  Carolina  had  not  paused  for  a  day  to  make  a  bar- 
gain or  contract  with  her  northern  sister  province,  but  had 
at  once  fitted  out  and  dispatched  the  expedition  under 
Barnwell,  and  had  with  like  liberality  sent  another  under 
Moore,  in  1713,  upon  the  renewal  of  that  war.  In  1715 
North  Carolina  had  acted  in  return  with  as  much  gener- 
osity, and  sent  assistance  to  this  province  under  Maurice 
Moore.  Virginia,  when  appealed  to  by  Governor  Craven, 
in  1715,  had  not  seen  fit  to  act  in  this  spirit.  She  had 
demanded  terms  and  security  from  Middleton,  the  agent, 
and  he  had  had  to  bargain  with  Governor  Spotswood  for 
the  few  men  he  obtained  from  that  province.  Nor  did 
Spotswood  afterwards  neglect  the  contract  he  had  required, 
but  rigidly  insisted  upon  a  compliance  with  its  terms,  and 
complained  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  England  that  South 
Carolina  had  not  fulfilled  her  engagements  with  him  ;  so 
that  when  the  Proprietors  and  the  Carolina  agents  applied 
to  that  board  for  assistance,  they  were  met  with  the 
inquiry  as  to  their  liability  to  that  province.  To  this 
Carteret  had  replied  that  Virginia  had  looked  to  her  own 
interests  and  had  acted  but  prudently  in  sending  assist- 
ance to  Carolina,  it  being  better  to  fight  an  enemy  at  a 
distance  than  within  her  own  territory.  But  Governor 
Spotswood  continued  to  press  for  his  hire,  and  it  was 

649 


550  HISTORY   OP   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

deemed  best  to  send  back  his  men,  for  whom  South  Caro- 
lina found  it  inconvenient  to  pay. 

The  General  Assembly  met  again  soon  after  the  de- 
parture of  Governor  Craven,  and  its  first  business  was  to 
address  a  letter  on  the  15th  of  March,  1715-16,  to  its 
special  agents  in  England,  Messrs.  Boone  and  Berresford, 
urging  them  to  press  the  appeal  to  his  Majesty  to  take 
the  immediate  government  of  the  province  into  his  own 
hands ;  for,  according  to  all  human  probability,  they  wrote, 
unless  his  Majesty  would  do  so,  and  send  men  to  defend 
them  and  money  to  defray  their  charges,  this  once  flourish- 
ing colony  would  be  reduced  to  nothing  and  become  a 
p'rey  to  their  barbarous  enemies. 

According  to  a  moderate  computation,  they  said,  the 
charges  that  the  province  had  been  at  for  the  support  of 
the  war  amounted  to  X  150,000 ;  what  further  charges  they 
would  incur,  God  alone  knew  ;  they  need  not  use  any  argu- 
ments to  make  their  agents  know  that  this  would  be  a 
greater  burden  than  the  province  could  possibly  bear. 
The  forces  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  were  on  their 
return  home,  being  unwilling  to  stay  longer,  and  the  As- 
sembly more  than  willing  to  release,  as  they  could  not 
afford  to  maintain  them.  They  were  trying  to  find  some 
means  of  giving  the  government  of  Virginia  all  the  satis- 
faction they  could  in  reason  desire.  In  their  letter  the 
Assembly  said  :  "  Wee  should  not  have  mentioned  anything 
on  this  head  at  this  time  had  not  the  Govern''  of  Virginia 
sent  us  word  that  he  would  endeavor  to  make  us  look  as 
odious  as  he  could  both  at  home  in  England,  and  in  all  the 
Kings  Govm*'  in  America  upon  the  account  of  our  non  per- 
formance of  every  particular  branch  of  the  Treaty  of  as- 
sistance agreed  upon  between  that  Gover""  and  our  agent 
sent  thither  for  that  purpose.  At  the  same  time  we  must 
confess  that  if  our  late  Assembly  had  fully  complied  with 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  551 

that  agreement  it  would  not  have  cost  this  province  near 
so  much  money  as  the  measure  we  shall  now  be  obliged 
to  take.  "1 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Mr.  Berresford  pre- 
sented to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tion a  memorial  upon  the  condition  of  South  Carolina,^ 
stating  that  the  province  having  for  a  year  past  been 
engaged  in  war  with  the  Indians,  numbers  of  its  inhabi- 
tants had  been  destroyed  by  fire  and  sword.  The  small 
number  of  white  men  fit  to  bear  arms  that  were  left  con- 
tinued to  desert  the  province,  and  had  not  the  govern- 
ment of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  sent  to  their 
assistance  about  200  men  (for  part  of  whom  they  had 
been  obliged  to  consent  to  terms  almost  impossible  to 
be  complied  with),  many  more,  if  not  the  greatest  part 
of  the  present  inhabitants  would  in  all  probability  have 
deserted.  The  whole  province,  thus  distressed  and  de- 
spairing of  further  assistance  from  the  American  colonies 
or  from  the  Lords  Proprietors,  were  under  the  necessity 
of  making  application  to  the  King  and  Parliament  to 
enable  them  to  subdue  their  enemies. 

The  memorial  went  on  to  say  that  their  agents  and 
several  merchants  of  London  trading  to  Carolina  had 
accordingly,  on  the  9th  of  August  before,  presented  their 
case  by  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  after  ex- 
amination by  committee,  that  body  had  been  pleased  to 
address  his  Majesty  to  send  to  the  assistance  of  Carolina 
such  supplies  as  in  his  wisdom  should  be  thought  needful ; 
that  his  Majesty  had  been  pleased  to  send  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  arms,  "but  the  unnatural  rebellion,"  that  of 
the  Pretender  then  existing  in  Scotland,  had  prevented 
his  sending  men. 

A   second   petition   from   the   agents,    merchants,   and 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  224-226.         «  Ibid.,  229-233. 


552  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

others  to  the  King,  they  said,  had  been  presented  praying 
that  some  of  the  rebels  in  Scotland  who  had  petitioned  to 
be  transported  might  be  sent  to  serve  in  Carolina.  That 
by  other  letters  and  advices  received  from  the  most 
credible  inhabitants,  it  appeared  that,  notwithstanding 
they  had  made  peace  with  one  nation  of  their  Indian 
enemies,  they  were  still  obliged  to  employ  all  the  force  of 
white  men  they  could  raise,  together  with  many  of  their 
black  slaves,  against  those  Indians  who  had  begun  the 
war,  and  had  since  committed  the  greatest  barbarities. 

"  All  of  which  Representations  and  Applications,"  Mr. 
Berresford  continued,  "being  made  to  this  Government 
and  also  by  proper  persons  here  made  known  to  the  Hon- 
orable the  Lord  Proprietors,  and  no  sufficient  assistance 
sent  them.  About  the  beginning  of  this  instant  June 
arrived  here  from  that  Province  another  address  to  the 
King  and  a  letter  from  the  Assembly  there  very  plainly 
setting  forth  their  present  State,  which  having  been  shown 
to  the  Honorable  the  Lord  Cartwright  (Carteret)  and 
others  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  that  Province  they  had 
signified  their  dislike  thereto,  and  as  we  have  too  much 
reason  to  fear  will  not  only  refuse  to  consent  to  what  may 
be  necessary  on  their  parts  but  also  endeavour  to  invali- 
date the  said  Representation  which  obliges  us  the  more 
earnestly  to  make  all  the  application  we  are  able  that  the 
condition  of  these  distressed  subjects  may  in  the  most 
effectual  manner  be  laid  before  and  come  under  the  con- 
sideration of  his  Majesty  and  the  Government  with  the 
greatest  Expedition." 

The  memorial  pressed  again  the  importance  of  the 
colony  as  an  outpost  to  the  other  English  provinces  in 
America.  They  represented  that  "by  many  former  cir- 
cumstances as  well  as  by  the  late  Letter  from  the  Assembly 
of  Carolina  there  is  too  much  reason  to  be  assur'd  that  the 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  553 

French  (who  live  and  trade  with  the  Indians  from  Que- 
beck  and  along  the  Lakes  of  Canida  and  southward  to 
and  down  the  great  river  of  Messisippi  to  Fort  Morilla 
scituated  on  a  River  near  the  mouth  of  the  said  great 
River  with  the  Bay  of  Mexico)  have  stirred  up  and  en- 
couraged severall  Nations  of  Indians  to  this  war."  The 
French,  they  represented,  had  settled  within  the  bounds 
of  the  charter  of  Carolina  on  the  back  of  the  improved 
part  of  the  province,  and  had  possessed  themselves  from 
the  northernmost  part  of  the  sea  to  the  southernmost  on 
the  back  of  all  the  most  valuable  British  plantations  and 
colonies  on  the  main  of  America.  "'Tis  too  obvious," 
they  said,  "  what  they  (especially  South  Carolina)  must 
expect  whenever  a  Rupture  with  France  may  happen  if 
not  before.  It's  also  as  obvious  how  formidable  the 
French  will  grow  there  during  peace  considering  how 
industrious  they  are  in  frequently  supplying  their  Settle- 
ments with  People,"  etc. 

"  Carolina  being  thus  circumstanced  and  capable  of  af- 
fording greater  quantity  of  valuable  produce  than  any 
other  part  of  British  America  as  the  best  of  Rice  in 
abundance,  all  manner  of  Timber  for  building,  shipping  in 
great  plenty.  Pitch,  Tar,  Turpentine,  Rossin,  Indigo  and 
Silk  which  has  been  manufactured  in  London  and  proves 
to  be  of  extraordinary  Substance  and  Lustre,  omitting  to 
mention  the  great  quantity  of  provisions  and  other  neces- 
sarys  it  affords  the  Plantation.  'Tis  humbly  hoped  the 
King  and  Parliament  will  be  of  opinion  that  it  merits  a 
particular  notice  and  Protection. 

"  The  colony  being  capable  of  producing  sufficient  quan- 
tities of  many  of  the  aforesaid  commodities  not  only  to 
supply  great  Britain  but  several  other  parts  of  Europe, 
the  first  costs  of  which  being  paid  for,  in  british  manufac- 
torys  and  the  whole  freight  redounding  to  his  Majestys 


554  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Subjects  are  circumstances  worthy  of  the  notice  of  the 
Legislature."  ^ 

While  Boone  and  Berresford  were  thus  appealing  to  his 
Majesty's  government  to  be  taken  under  the  Royal  care 
and  protection,  the  Assembly  in  Carolina  were  devoting 
themselves  to  legislation  for  the  province,  not  indeed  as 
if  they  had  any  idea  of  abandoning  it.  One  of  its 
first  measures  was  to  order  "  That  Col.  Maurice  Moore  be 
desired  (by  the  messenger)  to  attend  this  House,  and 
when  come  into  the  same  Mr.  Speaker  do  give  him  the 
thanks  of  this  House  for  his  service  to  this  Province  in 
his  coming  so  cheerfully  with  the  forces  brought  from 
North  Carolina  to  our  assistance,  and  for  what  further 
services  he  and  they  have  done  since  their  arrival  here."^ 

In  1707,  under  the  administration  of  Sir  Nathaniel 
Johnson,  a  large  tract  of  land  before  alluded  to,  then  in- 

1  To  this  memorial  Mr.  Berresford  added  the  following  tabular  state- 
ment of  the  value  of  the  province  before  the  Indian  wars,  and  its  losses 
occasioned  thereby :  — 

A  Demonstration  of  the  Present  State  «  of  South  Carolina. 

The  value  of  The  Province  the  year  before  the  Indian  war.    viz{  Lands,  Negroes 
Stock  Merchand_ei  and  all  other  Profitt  and  Improvements  by  an  Assem"  the 

sum  total  amounting  to £709.763 

The  value  of  the  Province  is  diminished  by  destruction  desertion  &ct:  at  least  a 

third  which  is £286.587 

The  Bills  of  Credit  made  current  before  the  war  and  now  extant  are      .        .        .      £44.000 

The  Debts  and  Bills  since  the  War £  140.000 

The  value  of  Ten  Thousand  Negroes  at  Twenty  Pounds  each  which  being  the^ 
only  thing  the  Inhabitants  can  carry  with  them  when  they  desert  the  Prov- 1 
ince  or  improve  their  Lauds,  and  subsist  themselves  with,  while  there  they  |  **""•""" 


will  never  part  with,  and  therefore  the  sum  of  them  to  be  deducted,  which  is 
The  remaining  sum  to  be  exosted  before  their  Debts  will  be  equal  to  the  value, 
of  their  Lands,  and  other  Stock  after  which  (in  point  of  Interest)  it  seems  to 
be  equal  for  the  Inhabitants  to  leave  the  Province  or  stay  &  pay  the  Debt  if 
their  Troubles  were  at  an  end,  but  If  the  War  continue  &  the  Inhabitants 
remain  on  the  Land  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  they  will  be  reduced  to 
the  miserable  condition  of  their  Neighbors  in  the  Bahama  Islands  which  we 
hope  his  most  Gracious  Majesty  the  King  under  God  will  timely  prevent  . 

2  Commons  Journal. 

a  Condition. 


89.176 


£709.763 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  556 

habited  by  the  Yamassees,  had  been  set  aside  and  appro- 
priated by  an  act  for  their  exclusive  use.  Surveys  and 
settlements  upon  it  were  forbidden,  and  white  settlers 
already  within  its  limits  were  removed.  The  purpose  of 
this  measure  was  to  secure  the  maintenance  of  these  then 
friendly  Indians  between  the  colony  and  the  hostile  tribes 
under  Spanish  influence  in  Florida.^  But  after  the  Indian 
War  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Yamassees,  the  Proprietors 
had  written  to  the  Governor  and  Council  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1716,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  board  that 
these  lands  from  which  the  Yamassees  had  been  expelled 
should  be  parcelled  out  in  divisions  not  exceeding  100 
acres  to  be  allotted  to  those  who  were  or  might  thereafter 
come  to  Carolina. 2  The  first  act  of  the  Assembly  of 
June  13,  1716,  under  Deputy  Governor  Daniel  was,  there- 
fore, one  to  repeal  the  act  of  1707,  and  to  open  these 
lands  to  settlers  from  abroad.  The  limits  of  this  territory 
were  the  Combahee  River  on  the  northeast,  the  marshes 
and  islands  on  Coosaw  and  Port  Royal  rivers  on  the 
southeast,  the  Savannah  River  on  the  southwest,  and  a 
line  drawn  from  the  head  of  the  Combahee  River  to  Fort 
Moore  on  the  Savannah.  These  lands  were  now  set  apart 
for  settlement  by  such  persons  (being  Protestants)  as 
might  come  into  the  province  from  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
or  any  of  his  Majesty's  plantations  in  America.  To  every 
such  person  300  acres  of  river  land  and  400  acres  of 
back  land  were  offered.  The  grants  were  to  be  confined 
to  "new  comers"  (actual  settlers),  who  were  not  to  be 
allowed  to  convey  away  their  tracts  before  seven  years 
had  expired.  The  grants  were  not,  however,  to  be  with- 
out consideration.  A  quit-rent  of  12  pence  per  100  acres 
was  reserved  and  £3  purchase  money  to  be  paid  for  each 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  317. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  164. 


656  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

100  acres  within  four  years  and  six  months.  This  favor 
being  allowed  the  persons  that  should  settle  the  said  tract 
of  land,  said  the  act,  in  consideration  of  their  poverty. 
"  Therefore,"  it  continued,  "  it  is  the  humble  request  and 
desire  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Lord  Palatine,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  this  Province  that 
their  Lordships  for  the  consideration  aforesaid  will  ac- 
quiesce in  and  approve  this  part  of  this  act,  and  accept 
of  their  purchase  money  to  be  paid  as  before  directed  by 
this  act,"  etc.^ 

The  next  measure  of  the  General  Assembly  was  one  to 
encourage  the  importation  of  white  servants.  The  act 
recited  that  sad  experience  had  taught  that  the  small 
number  of  white  inhabitants  was  not  sufficient  to  defend 
the  province  even  against  their  Indian  enemies,  and  that 
the  numbers  of  slaves  which  were  daily  increasing  might 
likewise  endanger  its  safety  if  speedy  care  was  not  taken 
to  encourage  the  importation  of  white  servants.  Where- 
fore a  bounty  of  £25  current  money  of  the  province  was 
offered  to  be  paid  by  the  Receiver  for  every  white  male 
servant  above  sixteen  years  of  age  and  under  thirty;  and 
£22  for  every  boy  of  twelve  and  under  sixteen;  an  addi- 
tional bounty  of  £5  was  offered  for  all  such  servants 
who  should  be  imported  within  two  years.  Of  the  white 
servants  so  imported,  planters  were  required  to  take  from 
the  Receiver  one  servant  for  every  ten  slaves  owned. 
But  whereas  said  the  act,  ^'  there  hath  been  imported  into 
this  province  several  native  Irish  servants  that  are  Papists, 
and  persons  taken  from  Newgate  and  other  prisons,  con- 
victed of  capital  crimes  to  the  great  prejudice  and  detri- 
ment of  this  province,"  in  order  to  prevent  the  imposing 
upon  the  province  persons  of  lewd  and  profligate  lives,  it 
provided  "that  all  merchants  or  masters  of  vessels  or 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  641-646. 


tJNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  557 

others  shall  upon  their  oaths  declare  that  to  the  best  of 
their  knowledge  none  of  the  servants  by  them  imported 
be  either  what  is  commonly  called  native  Irish  or  persons 
of  known  scandalous  characters  or  Roman  Catholics "  ; 
merchants  shipping  servants  were  "  obliged  to  send  a 
certificate  under  the  hand  of  the  proper  magistrate  that 
such  persons  or  servants  are  Protestants,  and  be  not 
reputed  to  be  or  have  not  been  legally  convicted  of  any 
notorious  crime."  ^  Such  were  the  religious  animosities  of 
the  time  and  the  blindness  of  prejudice  that  the  colonists 
appear  to  have  been  more  afraid  of  Irish  papists  than  of 
the  Yamassee  Indians,  and  regarded  them  no  better  than 
"persons  of  lewd  and  profligate  lives."  It  is  scarcely  to 
be  wondered,  however,  that  Roman  Catholics  should  be 
held  in  such  disrepute,  when  it  is  recollected  that  but  a 
few  years  since  the  dissenters  under  Boone  were  classifying 
Huguenots,  Jews,  strangers,  aliens,  servants,  and  negroes 
as  alike  unworthy  of  participation  in  the  government  with 
English  freemen. 

The  next  measure  was  one  "/or  laying  an  imposition  on 
Liquors^  goods  and  Merchandises  Imported  or  Exported  out 
of  this  Province  for  the  raising  of  a  Fund  of  Money  towards 
defraying  the  public  charges  and  expenses  of  the  G-overn- 
ment,^^^  This  act,  which  laid  heavy  duties  on  a  long  list 
of  enumerated  articles  of  merchandise,  and  five  per  cent 
on  all  goods  not  mentioned,  made  another  attempt  to  check 
the  importation  of  negroes  by  imposing  heavy  duties. 
Three  pounds  current  money  per  head  was  imposed  on 
every  negro  slave  over  ten  years  old  imported  into  the 
province  from  Africa  ;  and  £S0  per  head  for  all  such  im- 
ported from  any  of  the  other  colonies.^ 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  646. 

2  Ibid.,  649. 

3  From  invfentories  and  appraisements  on  file  in  the  Ordinary's,  now 


55^  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Then  followed  an  act  authorizing  another  emission  of 
bills  of  credit  to  the  amount  of  .£30,000  for  the  payment 
of  the  army  and  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  war,  which 
resulted  in  a  further  depreciation  of  the  currency. ^  Also 
"  An  act  for  the  better  Regulating  the  Indian  Traded  ^  These 
and  other  measures  of  less  importance  were  passed  on  the 
30th  of  June,  1716.  At  the  same  session  Governor  Daniel 
had  informed  the  House  that  he  had  bought  thirty  of  the 
Highland  Scots  rebels  at  X30  per  head,  for  whom  the 
agent  in  London  had  petitioned,  and  requested  power  to 
purchase  more.  The  Assembly  sanctioned  this  purchase  ; 
but  wished  no  more  "  till  we  see  how  these  will  behave 
themselves."  3  On  the  4th  of  August  still  another  issue 
of  £15,000  in  bills  was  authorized  to  be  stamped  to  pay 
for  these  Scots,  who  were  to  be  employed  as  soldiers  in 
defending  the  province.* 

Having  taken  these  measures  for  checking  the  impor- 
tation of  negroes  and  encouraging  that  of  white  men  for 
the  protection  of  the  province,  the  Assembly  turned  its 
attention  to  remedy  the  evils  and  inconveniences  which 
still  existed  in  regard  to  the  election  of  members  of  the 
Commons  House  of  Assembly.  'Previously  to  the  act  of 
1692,^  as  we  have  seen,  elections  had  been  conducted  en- 
tirely under  the  instruction  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  to 
their  Governors.  The  provisions  of  that  act  are  not 
known.  The  act  of  1704  ^  prescribed  the  qualifications  of 
a  voter  to  be  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  the  possession  of 

Probate,  office  in  Charleston,  which  were  made  about  this  time,  grown 
negro  slaves  appear  to  have  been  valued  at  from  £150  to  £200  currency  ; 
i.e.  about  £40  to  £50  sterling.  Boone  and  Berresford  in  the  table  just 
given,  it  will  be  seen,  value  negroes,  young  and  old,  male  and  female,  at 
£20  sterling,  round. 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  662.  «  Ibid.,  677. 

*  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  276,  note;    Commons  Journals. 

*  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  682.  ^  jf^i^l.,  73.         e  j/;jr^.^  249. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  559 

50  acres  of  land  or  XIO  in  personal  property,  and  a  residence 
of  three  months  prior  to  the  date  of  the  writs  of  election  ; 
required  the  elections  to  be  held  in  public  for  two  days, 
and  to  be  by  ballot ;  but  it  did  not  prescribe  the  voting 
precincts,  nor  apportion  the  representatives  to  the  coun- 
ties. These  matters  were  left  as  they  had  been  under 
the  regulations  of  the  Proprietors,  and  though  the  repre- 
sentation had  been  divided  in  1682  equally  between  Berkeley 
and  Colleton,  and  directions  had  been  given  that  the  elec- 
tions should  be  held  at  Charles  Town  and  London,  in  Colle- 
ton, and  again  apportioned  in  1691  between  Berkeley, 
Colleton,  and  Craven  counties,  it  had  become  customary, 
perhaps  through  the  dangers  of  Colleton  to  incursions  of 
the  Indians,  to  hold  all  the  elections  in  Charles  Town. 
This  was  not  only  inconvenient,  but  it  led  to  the  rioting 
which  had  often  occurred,  especially  in  1701,  and  exposed 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  precincts  to  the  influences 
of  the  political  leaders  in  the  town.  It  was  in  every 
respect  a  most  objectionable  and  dangerous  arrangement, 
justified  only  at  first  by  the  necessities  of  the  times. 
This  matter  the  Assembly  now  took  up,  and  again  looked 
to  Barbadoes  for  a  model  upon  which  to  base  a  representa- 
tive and  elective  system. 

In  England  the  two  systems,  the  parish  and  the  town- 
ship, have  existed  from  the  most  ancient  times  side  by 
side ;  usually,  but  not  always,  coincident  in  area,  yet 
separate  in  character  and  machinery.  The  township, 
which  preceded  the  parish,  was  the  unit  of  civil,  and 
the  parish  the  unit  of  ecclesiastical,  administration.^ 
The  nonconformists  of  New  England,  disaffected  to  the 
church,  adopted  the  township  system  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  parochial.      The    churchmen,  who   settled  Barba- 

1  Blackstone's  Com.,  vol.  I,  112-116;  Stubbs's  Cons.  Hist.,  vol.  I, 
227  ;  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  vol.  XVIII,  295. 


560  HISTORY   OF  SOtJTH  CAROLINA 

does  about  the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand,  established 
parishes,  and  from  time  to  time  adding  civil  to  the 
ecclesiastical  duties  of  parochial  offices,  contented  them- 
selves with  that  organization  as  the  basis  alike  of  civil 
as  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  parish  thus  became  the 
unit  alike  of  Church  and  State,  and  the  election  precinct 
of  members  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly.  The 
Church  act  of  1706,  as  we  have  seen,  adopted  in  Carolina 
the  names  of  the  parishes  in  Barbadoes,  and  in  1712, 
the  care  of  the  poor,  which  under  Archdale's  act  of 
1695  had  been  committed  to  overseers,  was  put  under 
the  charge  of  the  vestries  and  churchwardens  —  a  legiti- 
mate charge  in  their  ecclesiastical  capacity.  The  Assem- 
bly of  this  year  went  further  and  adopted  the  parish 
electoral  system  of  Barbadoes  as  the  model  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  colony.  The  act  which  accomplished  this 
was  entitled  ''^  An  act  to  keep  inviolate  and  preserve  the 
freedom  of  Elections  and  appoint  who  shall  he  deemed  and 
adjudged  capable  of  choosing  or  being  chosen  Members  of 
the  Commons  House  of  Assembly,''^  ^  The  reasons  assigned 
in- the  preamble  for  its  enactment  were  that  the  greatest 
part  of  the  inhabitants  lived  at  considerable  distance  from 
the  stated  places  of  election,  whereby  they  were  at  great 
expense  of  time  and  money,  besides  other  hazards,  in  choos- 
ing members  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly  ;  and 
as  the  counties  of  the  province  were  now  divided  into 
distinct  parishes,  elections  might  be  managed  in  them 
so  as,  in  a  great  measure,  to  avoid  these  evils.  Its  prin- 
cipal features  were  as  follows  :  — 

Elections  were  to  be  held  in  each  parish  to  continue 
for  but  two  days,  beginning  at  sunrise  each  day  and  end- 
ing at  sunset.     These  elections  were  to  be  managed  by 
the   churchwardens,  who  were   to   make    publication   of 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  683. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  561 

the  writs,  and,  at  the  closmg  of  the  polls,  were  to  put  all 
the  votes,  which  were  to  be  "  delivered  in  and  rolled  up 
by  the  electors,  into  some  box,  glass  or  paper,  sealed  with 
the  seals  of  any  two  or  more  of  the  electors  present,"  and, 
upon  the  opening  of  the  polls  the  second  day,  were  to  be 
unsealed,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  election. 

To  prevent  persons  voting  twice  at  the  same  election, 
electors  were  to  be  enrolled ;  their  names  were  to  be 
fairly  entered  in  a  book  or  roll  provided  by  the  church- 
wardens ;  and  if  in  voting  two  or  more  papers  were 
found  rolled  up  together,  or  more  persons'  names  found 
written  on  any  paper  than  ought  to  be  voted  for,  such 
papers  were  not  to  be  counted.  It  was  especially  pro- 
vided that  the  elector  should  not  be  obliged  to  subscribe 
his  name  to  the  voting  paper  or  ballot,  which  seems  to 
intimate  that  some  such  custom  had  previously  existed  ; 
but  of  this  we  have  no  other  information.  The  church- 
wardens, managers  of  elections,  were,  within  seven  days, 
to  give  public  notice  at  the  church  door,  or  some  other 
public  place  in  the  parish,  of  the  result  of  the  election  ; 
and  every  one  chosen  was  required  under  a  penalty  of 
£100  currency  to  serve. 

The  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  thus  ap- 
portioned to  the  parishes  :  to  St.  Philip's,  Charles  Town, 
four ;  Christ  Church  two ;  St.  John's  three ;  St.  An- 
drew's four ;  St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  three ;  and  as, 
said  the  act,  the  limits  of  the  parishes  of  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Dennis  were  not  yet  clearly  ascertained,  "the  said 
parish  of  St.  Dennis  lying  in  the  midst  of  the  bounds,  and 
designed  only  for  the  use  of  the  French  settlements,  which 
at  present  are  mixed  with  the  English,"  to  the  parishes 
of  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Dennis  were  allotted  three  ;  to 
St.  Paul's  four ;  St.  Bartholomew's  three  ;  to  St.  Helena 
three ;  to  St.  James,  on  Santee,  in  Craven  County,  one. 
2o 


562  HISTORY  OP   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

A  special  provision  Avas  made  in  favor  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  St.  Bartholomew's  and  St.  Helena,  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  settlements ;  they  were  allowed  to 
choose  persons  who  had  formerly  lived  in  those  parishes, 
and  to  vote  at  such  places  as  the  Governor  and  Council 
should  appoint.  The  bounds  of  the  parishes  were  to  be 
surveyed  within  two  months  after  the  ratification  of  the 
act. 

Writs  of  election  were  to  be  issued  by  the  Governor 
and  Council,  and  to  be  tested  forty  days  before  the  meet- 
ing of  a  new  House,  of  which  elections  public  notice  was 
to  be  given  two  Sundays  before  at  the  door  of  each  parish 
church  or  at  some  other  public  place  in  the  parish.  In 
case  churchwardens  should  be  wanting,  the  Governor 
and  Council  might  appoint  other  persons  to  manage  an 
election.  The  managers  of  election,  churchwardens,  or 
other  persons  appointed  were  required  to  be  sworn  by  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  faithfully  to  execute  the  writ  of 
election.  This  clause  was  to  be  the  subject  of  one  of  the 
first  differences  between  the  people  and  the  Royal  Gov- 
ernment forty-six  years  after. 

The  qualifications  of  voters  prescribed  in  the  act  of  1704 
were  modified.  It  was  now  enacted  that  every  white 
man,  and  no  other,  professing  the  Christian  religion,  of 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  had  been  in  the  province 
for  the  space  of  six  months  before  the  date  of  the  writ  of 
election,  instead  of  three,  as  was  sufficient  under  the  act 
of  1704,  and  who  was  worth  £30  current  money  of  the 
province,  should  be  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the 
Commons  House  of  Assembly  for  the  parish  wherein  he 
was  actually  resident.  The  freehold  qualification  of  1704 
was  abolished,  but  the  money  qualification  increased  from 
£10  to  <£30.  For  members  of  the  House  the  qualifica- 
tions were  that  the  person  should  be  worth  £500  current 


tJNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  563 

money  in  goods  and  chattels,  or  possessed  of  500  acres  of 
land  in  the  parish  wherein  he  was  chosen. 

Penalties  were  presented  against  those  who  should  vio- 
late the  freedom  of  election  by  menaces,  threats,  or  bribery. 
A  quorum  of  the  House  was  fixed  at  sixteen  members, 
nine  of  whom  must  concur  in  the  passage  of  any  law  ;  but 
seven  might  meet,  "  make  a  house  "  as  it  Avas  termed,  elect 
a  chairman  (in  the  absence  of  the  Speaker),  and  adjourn  or 
summon  by  their  Messenger  the  absent  members. 

This  law,  which  now  assimilated  the  government  of 
Carolina  to  that  of  Barbadoes  and  tlie  other  British  West 
Indies  which  had  followed  the  model  of  that  colony,  was 
acceptable  to  all  but  to  a  few  leaders,  chief  of  whom  were 
Trott  and  Rhett.  Churchmen  were  satisfied  with  it,  as 
it  incorporated  the  church  into  the  very  warp  and  woof 
of  the  government  itself,  making  use  of  its  machinery 
for  the  administration  of  civil  affairs  as  well  as  ecclesiasti- 
cal, and  thus  more  firmly  establishing  its  hold  upon  the 
people.  On  the  other  hand,  it  avoided  the  violence  and 
tumults  often  witnessed  at  elections  in  Charles  Town, 
saved  great  expense  and  inconvenience,  and  allowed 
parties  in  the  country  to  manage  their  elections  with- 
out interference  or  influence  of  the  townspeople.  It 
increased  the  representation  in  the  Commons  House  to 
thirty,  and  most  equitably  apportioned  the  representation 
to  the  different  parts  of  the  province.  No  more  repre- 
sentatives were  allowed  to  St.  Philip's,  the  town  parish, 
than  to  St.  Paul's,  in  Colleton.  But  this  was  fully  com- 
pensated by  the  representation  allowed  the  adjoining 
parishes,  St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  St.  Andrew's,  and 
Christ  Church,  whose  interests  and  affiliations  were  all 
the  same  as  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  This 
act  thus  established  the  peculiar  parish  system  of  South 
Carolina,  which  was  to  last   for   a   century  and  a  half. 


564  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  Proprietors  had  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people,  and  on  the  24th  of  February,  1716,  had  revoked 
the  veto  power  of  Trott  and  his  power  to  appoint  Provost 
Marshals.^  They  had  also  agreed  to  the  appropriation  of 
the  Yamassee  lands  to  new  settlers, ^  and  in  April  had 
contributed  ^£500  towards  the  building  of  the  new  St. 
Philip's  Church,  and  directed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  John- 
son, for  whom  they  entertained  a  high  opinion,  was  to 
receive  XlOO  per  annum  during  his  residence  in  the 
parish  of  Charles  Town,  and  also  arrears  for  assize  ser- 
mons from  the  year  1708  to  1713. ^  But  Mr.  Johnson, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  not  lived  to  enjoy  these  additions 
to  his  income.  Though  the  Proprietors  had  withdrawn 
the  extraordinary  powers  they  had  conferred  upon  Trott, 
they  had  lost  no  confidence  in  him,  and  were  ready  to 
trust  him  with  other  positions  and  duties  in  addition  to 
those  of  his  great  office  of  Chief  Justice.  Lord  Carteret, 
the  Palatine,  issued  a  warrant  authorizing  him  to  sit  as 
Judge  of  the  Vice-admiralty  Court. ^ 

Another  great  trouble  to  the  Carolinians  had  been  grow- 
ing during  Governor  Craven's  administration.  While  the 
Indians  had  arisen  upon  the  frontier  in  the  country,  and 
the  Governor  was  engaged  in  repelling  their  invasion  from 
that  direction,  the  pirates  again  appeared  upon  the  coast. 
During  Queen  Anne's  War,  both  Spaniards  and  French 
had  twice  overrun  and  plundered  the  Bahama  Islands, 
and  the  Island  of  Providence  was  practically  deserted  by  the 
English  inhabitants.  The  population  of  Providence  had 
always  been  of  the  most  unruly  and  turbulent  character, 
living  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  wrecks  on  the  island, 
which  they  were  accused,  indeed,  of  occasioning  as  well 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.y  vol.  I,  187. 

2  7ftj<jr.^  164.  a  ijjia,^  i63. 

*  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  231. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  565 

as  plundering.  1  Trott  himself  had  been  Governor  of  the 
island,  and  knew  well  its  character.  Indeed,  he  had  been 
charged  by  Randolph  with  conniving  at  these  practices. 
During  the  war  with  France  and  Spain,  Providence  be- 
came the  chief  rendezvous  of  a  body  of  desperate  men, 
who  were  accustomed  to  push  out  into  the  ocean,  or 
cruise  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  prey  on  commerce. 
For  five  years  they  held  their  robber  reign,  and  plun- 
dered and  took  vessels  of  every  nation  without  distinc- 
tion. They  had  their  hiding-places  along  the  coast  of 
both  Carolinas.  The  mouth  of  the  Cape  F'ear  was  a 
place  of  refuge  and  resort,  second  onl}^  in  importance  to 
Providence. 2  It  was  estimated  that  they  numbered  1500 
men  on  the  coast,  800  of  whom  had  their  headquarters 
at  Providence.  They  swept  the  coast  from  Newfound- 
land to  South  America,  plundering  their  prizes  at  sea, 
or  carrying  them  into  Cape  Fear  or  Providence  as  best 
suited  their  convenience.^ 

Upon  the  address  of  the  House  of  Lords  the  King  had 
dispatched  Captain  Woodes  Rogers  with  a  naval  force  to 
Providence,  to  break  up  the  nest  of  pirates  there.  This, 
as  we  shall  see,  Rogers  promptly  succeeded  in  doing. 
But  their  suppression  in  the  Island  of  Providence  did 
but  transfer  large  numbers  of  them  to  Carolina. 

The  commerce  of  Carolina  had  in  the  last  ten  years 
greatly  increased.  It  had,  indeed,  more  than  doubled. 
In  1706  the  number  of  vessels  entering  the  port  of 
Charles  Town  had  been  68.  In  1716  it  had  been  162.* 
The  commerce  of  the  port  had  been  for  some  years  free 
from  piratical  interference,  until  1715,  when  many  captures 

1  British  Empire  in  Am.^  vol.  II,  422. 

2  Hawks's  Hist,  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  272. 

3  The  Carolina  Pirates  (S.  C.  Hughson)  ;  Johns  Hopkins  Univ. 
Studies,  12  series,  V,  VI,  VII,  69.  *  See  Appendix  VIII. 


566  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

of  vessels  in  the  Carolina  trade  had  been  niade,  and  it 
became  evident  that  unless  some  immediate  action  was 
taken  the  commerce  of  the  colony  would  be  destroyed. 
While  the  agents  of  Carolina  in  London  were  pressing, 
now  the  Proprietors,  and  then  the  Royal  Government,  for 
assistance  in  resisting  Indians,  the  pirates  had  begun 
again  their  depredations  on  her  commerce;  and  from 
neither  Proprietors  nor  government  could  assistance  of 
any  consequence  be  secured. 

Whether  or  not  there  was  any  truth  in  Randolph's 
charges  as  to  Trott's  complicity  with  the  pirates  while 
Governor  of  Providence,  he  acted  now  with  great  vigor 
against  them.  A  number  having  been  taken,  a  court  was 
at  once  organized  for  their  trial.  Fortunately,  Trott  had 
not  only  the  Proprietors'  commission  as  Judge  of  Admiralty, 
but  he  had  also  a  commission  from  the  King.  No  ques- 
tion could  possibly  arise,  therefore,  as  to  his  jurisdiction. 
Among  the  English  statutes  under  his  compilation  re- 
enacted  here  in  1712  was  that  of  27  Henry  VIII,  c.  4  : 
"  For  Pirates  and  Mobbers  on  the  Sea.'''*  In  adopting  the 
English  statutes,  it  had  been  provided  by  this  act  of  1712 
that  the  Governor  and  Council  of  the  province  should 
have  all  the  power  and  authority  relating  to  the  execution 
of  the  enumerated  statutes  as  by  the  same  were  given  and 
possessed  in  England  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  or  the  Lord 
Kiaeper  of  the  Great  Seal  of  England  ;  and  under  the 
statute  of  Henry  VHI  pirates  were  to  be  tried  by  com- 
mission under  the  King's  Great  Seal  directed  to  the  Lord 
Admiral  or  to  the  Lieutenant  or  Deputy  and  to  three  or 
four  such  other  substantial  persons  as  should  be  named 
by  the  Lord  Chancellor.^  In  pursuance  of  these  provisions. 
Governor  Daniel  and  his  Council,  —  George  Logan,  Francis 
Yonge,  and  Samuel  Eveleigh,  —  on  the  27th  of  November, 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  413,  4G5. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  567 

1716,  issued  a  commission  for  the  trial  of  the  captured 
pirates.^  A  grand  jury  was  organized  and  an  indictment 
was  given  out  against  the  prisoners,  nine  in  number,  six 
of  whom  were  from  England,  one  from  Boston,  one  from 
New  York,  and  one  from  Williamsburg,  Virginia.  The 
grand  jury  returned  a  true  bill,  but  upon  the  trial  the  petit 
jury  failed  to  convict.  Another  party  were,  however,  soon 
after  captured,  and  brought  to  trial  before  the  court  on 
the  3d  of  July,  1717,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  were  convicted 
and  hung.2 

1  By  this  commission  the  following  assistant  judges  were  appointed : 
Captain  Thomas  Howard,  commander  of  his  Majesty's  ship  the  Shoram ; 
the  Hon,  Charles  Hart,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Council  in  South  Caro- 
lina ;  the  Hon.  Thomas  Broughton,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly  in 
South  Carolina  ;  Arthur  Middleton,  Esq.,  and  Ralph  Izard,  Esq.  ;  Captain 
Philip  Dawes ;  Captain  William  Cuthbert,  commander  of  the  Fortune 
frigate  ;  Captain  Allen  Archer,  commander  of  the  brigantine  Experi- 
ment; and  Samuel  Deane  and  Edward  Brailsford,  merchants. 

2  Admiralty  Book,  U.  S.  Dist.  Ct.  of  So.  Ca. ,  A.  and  B. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

1717 

Governor  Craven,  upon  his  arrival  in  England, 
attended  upon  the  Lords  Proprietors,  who  desired  him  to 
continue  his  office  and  to  return  to  Carolina,  but  he  stated 
that  his  affairs  in  England  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
prevent  his  doing  so,  and  requested  to  be  excused,  and 
that  their  Lordships  would  nominate  another  Governor  to 
succeed  him.  The  Proprietors  thereupon  agreed  to  nomi- 
nate Robert  Johnson,  son  of  Sir  Nathaniel,  as  Governor, 
and  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to  prepare  letters  for 
the  Royal  approbation  of  the  nomination.  They  ordered 
that  a  part  of  Mr.  Johnson's  instructions  should  be  to 
make  inquiry  into  the  complaints  of  Governor  Spots- 
wood  ;  that  all  arrears  then  due  the  Lords  Proprietors 
and  growing  rents  to  the  1st  of  May,  1718,  be  given  to 
the  use  of  the  public  as  the  Governor  and  Council  should 
think  proper  to  appropriate.  They  also  offered  Governor 
Craven  a  present  of  XIOOO  for  his  services.^ 

It  was  not  until  April  30,  1717,  that  his  Majesty's 
approval  had  been  obtained  and  all  other  preliminaries 
arranged  so  as  to  allow  the  Proprietors  to  issue  Mr. 
Johnson's  commission.  By  his  instructions  Governor 
Johnson  was,  immediately  on  his  arrival,  to  summon 
Alexander  Skene,  Nicholas  Trott,  Thomas  Broughton, 
Charles     Hart,     Francis    Yonge,    Samuel    Wragg,     and 

1  Coll  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 188. 
668 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  569 

(James)  Kinloch  to  be  the  Council ;  liberty  of  debate  was 
to  be  allowed  and  votes  upon  all  matters  that  should  be 
debated.  No  member  of  the  Council  was  to  be  suspended 
without  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  which  were  to  be  at 
once  forwarded  to  England.  The  Receiver  General  was 
to  be  aided  in  getting  in  fines  and  forfeitures.  Their 
Lordships  had  received  complaints  of  the  exorbitant  rates 
of  bullion  in  Carolina,  which  they  alleged  proceeded  only 
from  an  act  to  which  they  had  always  evinced  great 
repugnance,  called  the  "bank  act."  They  recommended 
the  reduction,  as  much  as  possible,  of  paper  credit. 
Inventory  was  to  be  taken  of  all  arms,  ammunition,  and 
stores,  and  storehouses  were  to  be  established  through- 
out the  province.  Governor  Johnson  was  to  receive, 
as  salary,  <£400  per  annum,  payable  quarterly ;  a  full 
moiety  of  which  in  the  event  of  his  death  or  absence 
was  to  be  paid  to  whomsoever  might  be  appointed  to 
the  temporary  administration  of  the  government.  Upon 
other  points  the  instructions  were  the  same  as  to  previous 
Governors.^ 

A  most  curious  and  anomalous  condition  of  affairs  now 
existed  as  to  the  relations  between  the  colony,  the  Pro- 
prietors, and  the  Royal  Government.  The  Governor  and 
Council  were  still  in  constant  formal  communication  with 
their  Lordships  the  Proprietors.  But  behind  this  regular 
channel  of  communication  their  Lordships  were  in  private 
correspondence  with  Chief  Justice  Trott.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly  had 
their  regular  agent.  Landgrave  Kettleby,  in  London  to 
look  after  the  bounties  due  and  the  affairs  of  the  colony 
generally,  under  the  instructions  of  a  committee  of  corre- 
spondence of  the  Assembly  itself,  that  body  had  also  their 
special  agents,  Messrs.  Boone  and  Berresford,  there  directly 
1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  166. 


570  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

appealing  to  the  Royal  Government,  in  which  appeals,  still 
more  to  complicate  matters,  Deputy  Governor  Daniel  him- 
self was  joining,  1  although  he  had  objected  to  the  appropri- 
ation of  X2000  by  the  Assembly  for  Boone  and  Berresford, 
upon  the  ground  that  it  was  using  the  public  funds  to 
destroy  the  charter  of  the  Proprietors. ^ 

Thus,  while  the  Proprietors  were  preparing  their  in- 
structions for  Governor  Robert  Johnson,  Messrs.  Boone 
and  Berresford  were  laying  before  his  Majesty  "The 
humble  address  of  the  Representatives  and  inhabitants  of 
South  Carolina,"  in  which  the  memorialists  say  :  ^ — 

"  In  our  last  humble  address  to  your  Majesty  we  took  the  liberty 
to  inform  your  Majesty  of  the  deplorable  circumstances  we  then 
labored  under,  without  any  probability  of  seeing  an  end  to  our 
calamities.  Our  troubles  instead  of  coming  to  a  period,  daily  in- 
crease upon  us,  and  we  now  see  ourselves  reduced  by  these,  our  mis- 
fortunes to  such  a  dismal  extremity,  that  nothing  but  your  Majesty's 
most  Royal  and  gracious  protection  (under  God)  can  preserve  us 
from  ruin.  Our  Indians  continue  committing  so  many  hostilities 
and  infesting  our  settlements  and  plantations  to  such  a  degree,  that 
not  only  those  estates  which  were  deserted  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  cannot  be  resettled,  but  others  are  daily  likewise  thrown  up  to 
the  mercy  of  the  enemy  to  the  impoverishment  of  several  numerous 
families. 

"  We  farther  take  the  liberty  to  inform  your  Majesty  that  not- 
withstanding all  these  miseries,  the  Lords  Proprietors  of  this  Province 
instead  of  using  any  endeavours  for  our  relief  and  assistance,  are 
pleased  to  term  all  our  endeavours  to  procure  your  Majesty's  Royal 
protection  the  business  of  a  faction  and  party.  We  most  humbly 
assure  your  Majesty  that  it  is  so  far  from  anything  of  that  nature, 
that  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province  in  general  are  not  only  con- 
vinced that  no  human  power  but  that  of  your  Majesty  can  protect 
them,  but  earnestly  and  fervently  desire  that  this  once  flourisliing 
Province  may  be  added  to  those  under  your  happy  protection." 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  238. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  276,  note. 

8  Ibid.,  Appendix,  464. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  571 

This  address  to  the  King  was  signed  by  the  Speaker 
and  the  rest  of  the  members  attending  the  Assembly. ^ 
It  was  referred  by  his  Majesty  through  Mr.  Secretary 
Addison  to  the  Board  of  Trade  ;  and,  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1717,  Mr.  Boone  and  Mr.  Berresford,  having  been 
sent  for,  attended  before  the  board  and  were  questioned 
in  regard  to  its  representation.  They  said  they  had 
lately  received  and  presented  to  Lord  Carteret  a  letter 
from  the  Governor  and  Council  to  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
dated  January  26,  of  which  they  produced  a  duplicate, 
which  was  read  and  copy  taken.  They  stated  that,  upon 
the  application  to  Lord  Carteret,  the  Palatine,  and  pre- 
senting to  him  a  printed  "  case  "  of  the  condition  of  the 
province,  his  Lordship  had  promised  to  lay  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  before  his  Majesty  and  to  desire  the 
necessary  supplies,  which  they  believed  his  Lordship  had 
done.  Being  asked  what  number  of  men  they  thought 
necessary  for  subduing  the  Indians,  and  how  long  they 
proposed  the  men  sent  should  continue  in  Carolina,  they 
declared  their  opinion  that  not  less  than  600  would  be  ef- 
fective, 200  of  whom  might  be  disbanded  in  twelve  months, 
200  in  eighteen  months,  and  200  in  two  years  after  their 
arrival  in  Carolina.  Mr.  Boone  and  Mr.  Berresford  added 
that  Lord  Carteret  had  declared  to  them  his  willingness 
to  surrender  his  share  in  it  if  the  not  doing  it  were  such 
an  obstacle  as  to  hinder  the  relief  of  the  province. 

Lord  Carteret  appeared  before  the  board  on  the  31st, 

1  "Signed  by  Mr  Speaker  and  the  rest  of  the  members  attending  the 

service  of  the  House  of  Commons 

Geo.  Logan.  Speaker 

David  Durham.    Ra :  Izard.    Benj :  De  La  Conseillere.    Thos :  Summers. 

William  Gibbon.  Charles  Hill.  Thos  Lyhch.  Wa :  Izard.  Jonathan  Drake. 

Richard  Harris.  John  Williams.  Thomas  Waring.  John  Godfrey.  Thomas 

Satur.    John  Beamor.    Arthur  Hall.    Hugh  Hext.    Koger  Moore.    John 

Woodward.  Richard  Butler.  James  Cochran.  John  Russ.  Tho!  Townsend 

"  Signed  likewise  by  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province." 


572  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

but  he  did  not  confirm  what  Mr.  Boone  and  Mr.  Berres- 
ford  had  said  about  his  generous  offer.  On  the  contrary, 
he  questioned  the  right  of  Messrs.  Boone  and  Berresford 
to  represent  the  Assembly  in  South  Carolina,  that  body 
having  been  dissolved.  But  the  persons  styling  them- 
selves such,  he  admitted,  had  desired  him  to  present  their 
paper  to  the  King,  which  his  Lordship  had  done.  Since 
that,  however,  he  had  had  private  letters  from  Carolina 
—  no  doubt  from  Trott  —  which  brought  advice  of  a  peace 
having  been  made  with  the  Indians,  which  his  Lordship 
observed  was  probable,  since  the  Yamassees,  the  first  au- 
thors of  the  war,  were  cut  off.  He  then  went  on  to 
belittle  the  whole  matter.  He  said  there  had  never  been 
a  regular  war  with  the  Indians  in  Carolina.  Many  set- 
tlements which  had  been  too  scattered  and  remote  from 
each  other  had  been  destroyed  at  several  times ;  but  the 
whole  colony  was  never  in  such  danger  of  being  lost  as 
was  suggested.  He  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Assembly  had  made  no  provision  for  the  support  of  the 
men  they  asked  for  ;  that  the  Lords  Proprietors  would 
be  glad  to  have  more  men  sent  thither  in  any  manner, 
but  it  could  not  be  expected  that  his  Majesty  should 
send  and  maintain  them  there  ;  that  the  province  may 
have  been  run  in  debt,  as  alleged,  but  that  the  Lords 
Proprietors  had  applied  all  their  profits  towards  its  sup- 
port, and  had  purchased  and  sent  250  muskets,  which 
they  had  heard  had  actually  arrived  in  Carolina.  He 
added  he  did  not  doubt  but  when  Colonel  Johnson,  the 
present  Governor,  arrived,  he  would  find  all  things  quiet 
in  the  province  ;  his  Lordship,  therefore,  desired  the 
board  to  suspend  their  report  to  his  Majesty  until  fresh 
advices  should  arrive  from  thence.^  This  request  of  Lord 
Carteret  appears  to  have  been  effectual  for  the  time. 

1  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  280-282. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  573 

While  these  discussions  between  the  agents  of  Caro- 
lina, the  Proprietors,  and  the  Board  of  Trade  were  taking 
place  in  England,  the  General  Assembly  had  again  met  in 
Charles  Town,  and,  under  Daniel,  the  Deputy  Governor, 
were  proceeding  with  the  legislation  of  the  province.  The 
salary  of  Colonel  Alexander  Parris,  the  Public  Receiver, 
was  raised  to  .£400,  and  he  was  authorized  to  appoint  a 
deputy.^  An  act  amendatory  to  the  election,  law  was 
passed,  whereby  the  qualifications  of  voters  and  members 
of  the  Commons  were  raised.  The  voter  was  required  to 
have  been  a  resident  of  the  parish  in  which  he  otfered  to 
vote,  and  not  merely  a  resident  of  the  province,  six  months 
before  the  election,  and  to  have  a  freehold  of  50  acres  of 
land,  or  to  pay  taxes  for  the  sum  of  £50  current  money 
of  the  province.  The  representative  was  required  to  be 
either  a  free-born  subject  of  the  kingdom  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, or  a  foreign  person  naturalized  by  act  of  Parliament 
of  Great  Britain  ;  to  have  been  twelve  months  resident 
in  the  parish  he  was  chosen  for,  and  to  have  a  freehold  in 
that  parish  of  500  acres  of  land,  or  to  be  worth  £1000  in 
leasehold  or  in  cash  or  stock.  From  these  provisions 
the  voters  and  representatives  from  the  deserted  parishes 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  and  St.  Helena  were,  however,  ex- 
empted. There  was  a  proviso  allowing  one  to  be  elected 
a  representative  for  a  parish  who  owned  a  settled  planta- 
tion of  500  acres,  with  ten  negro  slaves  living  on  the  same 
under  the  care  of  at  least  one  white  man,  in  any  other 
parish  of  the  same  county.  No  person  receiving  any 
salary  or  perquisite  from  the  Lords  Proprietors  was  quali- 
fied to  sit  as  a  member  of  the  Commons. ^  In  1706  the 
building  of  wooden  frame-houses  in  the  town  had  been 
declared  a  common  nuisance  and  prohibited,  but  now  it 
was  represented  that  bricks  were  not  always  to  be  had 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  I.  2  /^^-^.^  3^  4, 


574  HlSTORt^  01^  SOUTH  CAROLIKA 

but  at  such  excessive  rates  as  prevented  the  building  up 
of  waste  places,  and  the  act  was  repealed.  Houses  were 
allowed  to  be  built  of  wood,  provided  the  hearths  and 
chimneys  were  of  brick  or  stone.  The  act  of  the  year 
before,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  importation  of 
white  servants,  was  found,  so  far  from  answering  the 
purpose  designed,  to  be  "the  chief  est  discouragement"  of 
their  importation,  and  was  also  repealed.^ 

In  April  the  province  was  further  alarmed  by  news 
of  activity  on  the  part  of  the  pirates  in  the  West  Indies ; 
and  it  being  probable  that  the  Shoram,  the  war  vessel 
that  had  come  to  Charles  Town  during  the  Indian 
troubles,  would  shortly  be  ordered  elsewhere,  the  Com- 
mons House  addressed  the  Deputy  Governor  and  his 
Council  upon  the  subject.  They  had  received  informa- 
tion, they  said,  that  the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine  had 
been  advised  by  the  Governor  of  Havana  to  be  on  his 
guard,  as  the  pirates  on  the  Bahama  Islands  designed 
to  attack  them.  The  Commons  said  that  they  did  not 
suppose  that  such  persons  as  the  pirates  had  any  regard 
to  or  made  any  difference  or  distinction  between  the 
people  of  any  nation  whatsoever,  and  they  ought  to  pro- 
vide for  the  safety  and  defence  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
province.  The  Commons  conceived  it  to  be  proper  to 
address  Captain  Howard,  commander  of  his  Majesty's 
ship,  the  Shoram^  to  desire  him  to  stay  some  time  longer 
with  his  ship,  so  as  to  deter  the  pirates  coming  here. 
They  therefore  desired  the  Governor  and  Council  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  their  House  to  form  a  committee 
of  the  Commons  in  a  conference  to  draw  up  such  an 
address  to  Captain  Howard.  For  some  reason  the  propo- 
sition was  not  acceded  to  by  Daniel  and  his  Council,  and 
the  Shoram  sailed  away  to  Virginia  with  orders  to  pro- 
1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  6,  7. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  575 

ceed  without  delay  to  England,  just  at  the  time  when  there 
was  most  urgent  need  for  her  presence  on  the  coast. ^ 

But  though  Governor  Daniel  did  not  detain  the 
Shoram,  he  promptly  acted  when,  soon  after,  another 
party  of  pirates  were  taken.  These  were  Stephen  James 
de  Cossey,  Francis  de  Mont,  Francis  Rossoe,  and  Emman- 
uel Erandos,  who  were  charged  with  taking  the  vessels 
the  Turtle  Bove^  the  Penelope^  and  the  Virgin  Queen,  in 
July  of  the  previous  year,  off  the  coast  of  Jamaica. 
Governor  Daniel  and  his  Council  immediately  issued  a 
commission,  appointing  assistants  to  the  Judge  of  Admi- 
ralty to  try  these  men.  The  trial  began  on  Monday,  the 
24th  of  June,  and  continued  during  the  week.  On  Sat- 
urday, the  29th,  the  parties  were  convicted.  They  were 
sentenced  on  the  3d  of  July,  and  were  executed.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  disastrous  results  of  the  attempted 
Scotch  colony  at  Port  Royal  under  Lord  Cardross,  and  the 
immediate  rising  of  the  Indians  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Spaniards  upon  the  settling  of  the  town  of  Beaufort, 
another  proposition  now  came  from  Scotland  to  establish 
a  colony  between  St.  Augustine  and  the  Carolina  settle- 
ment. Sir  Robert  Montgomery  proposed  to  the  Pro- 
prietors to  carry  over  at  his  own  charges  several  families 
for  settling  and  fortifying  the  most  southern  part  of  the 

1  The   Carolina    Pirates   (S.    C.   Hughson)  ;    Johns   Hopkins    Univ. 
Studies,  V,  VI,  VII,  64  ;  Commons  Journal. 

2  Carolina  Pirates,  supra,  65 ;  Admiralty  Book,  U.  8.  Dist.  Ct.  of  So. 
Ca.,  A  and  B. 

The  commission  named  as  assistants  to  the  Judge  of  Admiralty: 
Charles  Hart  and  Francis  Yonge,  two  of  the  members  of  the  Council ; 
the  Hon.  Alexander  Skene ;  Hon.  George  Logan,  Speaker  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Assembly  ;  Hon.  Colonel  Thomas  Broughton  ;  Ralph  Izard, 
Esq.;  Captain  Philip  Dawes;  Captain  William  Cuthbert,  commander  of 
the  Fortune  frigate  ;  Captain  Michael  Cole,  commander  of  the  Sarah 
frigate;  Samuel  Dean,  Edward  Brailsford,  and  Charles  A.  Hill,  mer- 
chants.   Those  whose  names  are  in  italics  sat  in  this  court. 


576  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

province  of  Carolina  beyond  the  Savannah, — thus  to  form 
a  barrier  to  any  sudden  incursion  of  the  Indians,  —  on  the 
condition,  however,  that  Sir  Robert  should  be  the  Gov- 
ernor for  life.  The  new  province  —  for  such,  in  fact,  it 
was  to  be  —  was  to  consist  of  the  territory  between  the 
Savannah  and  Altamaha  rivers,  and  was  to  be  known  as 
the  Margravate  of  Azilia. 

The  proposition  was  submitted  by  the  Proprietors  to 
his  Majesty  for  his  concurrence  ;  for  they  now  realized  the 
delicate  relations  in  which  they  stood  to  the  Royal  Govern- 
ment and  were  afraid  to  take  such  a  step  without  the 
Royal  approval,  lest  it  might  be  construed  as  a  violation 
of  their  charter.  His  Majesty  referred  the  matter  to  the 
Board  of  Trade.  To  this  board  it  was  represented  that 
the  proposed  colony  would  be  a  barrier  against  both 
Spaniards  and  Indians  ;  that  the  commodities  to  be  raised, 
varying  from  those  then  produced  by  the  English  planta- 
tions, would  increase  the  revenue  of  the  customs ;  would 
be  to  the  advantage  of  the  British  trade  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean; would  be  a  check  to  the  encroachment  of  the 
French ;  and  would  plant  an  honest  English  colony  in  the 
room  of  the  horde  of  pirates  at  the  Bahamas.  The  Attor- 
ney General's  opinion  was  obtained  that  there  was  nothing 
prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  right  of  the  Crown  in 
the  proposition,  but  he  doubted  whether  the  power  of 
government  granted  to  the  Proprietors  could  be  divided 
by  them  so  as  to  exempt  the  new  province  from  liability 
to  the  laws  of  South  Carolina,  which  were  made  for  the 
whole  province.  He  suggested  that  it  would  be  better 
for  the  Proprietors  to  surrender  their  powers  of  govern- 
ment to  his  Majesty  in  the  territory  to  be  erected  into  a 
new  province,  reserving  to  themselves  the  property  in  the 
lands,^  a  similar  arrangement  to  that  which  then  existed 
1  Coll.  Hint.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  232,  233,  234,  256. 


Ul^D^R  THE  PROPRiETARY   GOVERNMENT  577 

in  Maryland  in  regard  to  the  Baltimore  patent.^  This 
the  Proprietors  were  probably  unwilling  to  do,  fearing 
that  it  was  but  an  entering  wedge  to  be  inserted  in 
their  grant  to  the  province  at  large.  The  suggestion 
of  the  Attorney  General  was  not  accepted  by  the  Pro- 
prietors, and  the  scheme  languished,  but  was  appar- 
ently not  altogether  abandoned  when  the  Proprietary 
Government  was  overthrown  four  years  after.  Then  the 
Proprietors  found  themselves  more  willing  to  listen  to  the 
suggestion  of  the  Attorney  General.  In  1720  we  find 
Colonel  John  Barnwell,  who  was  sent  to  England,  as  we 
shall  see,  by  the  Convention  which  overthrew  the  Proprie- 
tary Government,  assisting  the  Proprietors  with  his  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  this  territory  and  recommending  the 
scheme.  In  1720  he  published  a  pamphlet  in  London, 
showing  the  title  of  the  Proprietors  to  the  territory  and 
their  right  and  authority  to  make  the  grant  of  the  land 
contained  in  it,  and  in  a  letter  written  at  the  Carolina 
Coffee  House,  addressed  to  Sir  Robert  Montgomery,  offers 
his  testimony  to  the  importance  of  his  design  and  gives 
a  glowing  description  of  the  country,  especially  of  the 
islands  on  the  coast.     He  writes  :  — 

"As  to  the  four  Islands  which  you  have  assign'd  to  the 
Purchasers  who  are  concerned  in  your  settlement,  they 
are  called  St.  Simon,  Sapella,  St  Catarina  and  Ogeche,  to 
which  last  before  I  came  thence  I  left  the  Name  of  Mont- 
gomery. You  have  given  them  a  general  Denomination 
which  I  think  they  may  well  deserve,  of  the  G-olden  Islands 
for  as  to  convenient  Pasture,  pleasant  Situation  profitable 
fishing  and  fowling  they  surpass  any  thing  of  that  kind 
in  all  Carolina,'''  etc.  :  ^ 

The  project  fell  through,  and  it  was  left  to  Oglethorpe, 

1  Maryland,  Am.  Com.  series. 

^  An  Account  of  the  Golden  Islands^  by  John  Barnwell,  London,  1720. 
2p 


578  HISTORY   OP   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

fifteen  years  after,  to  establish  the  colony  of  Georgia  in 
the  place  of  Sir  Robert  Montgomery's  Azilia. 

In  the  meanwhile  Governor  Robert  Johnson  had  arrived 
~^at  Charles  Town,  and  assumed  the  government.  He  met 
the  General  Assembly  for  the  first  time  October  29,  1717. 
Unfortunately,  however  much  personally  esteemed  his 
father,  Sir  Nathaniel,  and  himself  were,  he  had  come  to 
sustain  the  tottering  powers  of  the  Proprietors,  whose 
own  folly  and  greed  were  to  baffle  his  efforts  and  over- 
come whatever  influence  he  might  otherwise  have  exer- 
cised. Still  more  unfortunately  for  the  peace  and  stability 
of  his  rule  was  the  influence  of  Trott  and  Rhett,  who  stood 
before  the  people  as  more  really,  if  less  officially,  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Proprietors  than  himself.  His  first 
communication  to  the  Assembly  —  speech  as  it  was  now 
termed  —  arrayed  the  Commons  at  once  against  him. 

"  Mr  Speaker  and  Gentlemen,"  ^  he  said,  "  I  have  had  the  honor  to 
be  appointed  your  governor.  I  think  it  a  peculiar  happiness  I  am  not 
a  stranger  to  you,  and  that  I  have  for  many  years  been  privy  to  all 
the  public  transactions  that  have  passed  both  in  England  and  here 
relating  to  the  country  which  enables  me  the  better  to  judge  of  your 
interests  in  order  to  be  serviceable  to  this  province.  And  I  flatter 
myself  I  have  had  justice  done  me  to  be  esteemed  one  that  has  been 
desirous  and  ready  upon  all  occasions  since  my  being  in  England  to 
promote  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  it  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability 
without  partiality  or  private  interest  whenever  I  had  an  opportunity. 
And  1  hope  a  mutual  confidence  in  each  other's  good  intentions  to  pro- 
mote the  public  welfare  will  be  the  consequence  of  our  acquaintance." 

To  all  of  these,  no  doubt,  the  Commons  cordially  re- 
sponded, for  the  Speaker  was  much  beloved.  But  now  he 
came  to  the  point  of  difference  :  — 

"  I  am  obliged  for  your  sakes,"  he  continued,  "  to  give  you  my 
opinion  touching  the  disrespectful  behaviour  that  has  of  late  been 
shown  to  the  Lords  Proprietors  in  not  consulting  them  in  the  applica- 

1  Commons  Journal  (MSS.). 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERl^MENT  579 

tions  and  remonstrances  in  England.  Such  proceedings  were  very- 
unjustifiable  and  impolitic.  It  disconcerted  the  measures  their  Lord- 
ships had  taken  of  employing  their  utmost  zeal  and  interest  to  serve 
you.  And  you  must  allow  had  they  been  consulted  from  time  to 
time  they  were  better  judges  than  you  can  be  how  to  make  a  proper 
application.  Their  Lordships  notwithstanding  the  emissions  from 
hence  and  vain  attempts  upon  their  prerogatives  like  good  christians 
and  patriots  commiserated  the  calamity  this  provnice  has  laboured 
under,  and  whenever  they  could  understand  what  your  requests 
were,  have  more  than  once  (particularly  our  Palatine)  personally 
laid  your  remonstrances  and  supplications  before  his  sacred  Majesty. 
If  it  be  supposed  their  charter  is  a  bar  to  your  relief,  it  is  a  mistake. 
His  Majesty  and  his  Parliament  are  too  just  to  divest  their  Lordships 
of  their  properties  without  a  valuable  consideration,"  etc. 

"  Let  me  therefore  Gentlemen  recommend  to  you,"  said  the  Gov- 
ernor, **  a  dutiful  and  respectful  behaviour  to  them  that  we  may  merit 
their  interest  favour  and  protection  which  you  may  then  be  assured  of, 
an  earnest  of  which  their  Lordships  have  already  shown  by  their 
donation  to  the  public  of  all  the  arrears  that  are  due  to  them,  whether 
from  lands  sold  or  for  rent  and  all  growing  rents  that  shall  become 
due  to  the  first  May  1718,  the  charges  of  the  civil  government  only 
deducted." 

'^  He  recommended  several  matters  to  their  immediate 
consideration :  the  providing  for  the  defence  of  the 
country  for  the  ensuing  year,  the  acts  upon  the  subject 
being  about  to  expire ;  the  repairing  of  the  fortifications 
of  Charles  Town  and  Johnson  Fort.  He  advised  them 
to  find  some  more  effectual  method  to  prevent  fraud  in 
packing  pitch,  and  for  the  better  hulling  and  cleaning  of 
rice,  for  want  of  which  these  commodities  bear  but  a  low 
price  in  proportion  to  those  of  other  countries  at  home, 
i.e.  in  England;  to  consider  the  deplorable  condition  the 
public  credit,  trade,  and  the  colony  in  general  are  reduced 
to  by  the  currency  of  so  great  a  quantity  of  paper  money, 
and  to  fall  on  some  sudden  and  effectual  means  to  remedy 
the  same. 

"  The  Lords  Proprietors,"  the  Governor  said,  "  expect 


580  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

their  former  price  of  three  pounds  per  hundred  acres  of 
land,  according  to  an  act  of  6  of  Queen  Anne.  The  great 
disproportion  the  money  now  has,  has  obliged  me  and  my 
Council  to  give  orders  to  the  Receiver  General  to  take 
twelve  pounds  per  hundred  acres  being  now  but  an  equiva- 
lent. That  order  I  hope  will  be  but  of  short  duration 
since  I  promise  myself  you  will  concur  in  some  measures 
to  make  the  money  better." 

He  advised  them  to  make  the  acts  of  Assembly  more  gen- 
erally useful  "  by  their  being  methodized  fit  for  the  press  " 
and  sent  to  England  to  be  printed ;  to  consider  seriously  of 
the  very  great  rates  of  all  provisions  in  Charles  Town,  to 
remedy  which  he  advised  the  Assembly  not  only  to  regulate 
the  prices  of  butcher's  meat  in  the  town,  but  also  to  lay  a 
duty  on  the  exportation  of  all  provisions,  rice  only  excepted ; 
and  to  take  off  any  duty  then  on  any  provisions  imported. 
This,  he  added,  will  enable  us,  if  there  should  be  occasion, 
to  assist  Sir  Robert  Montgomery  or  any  other  new  settler. 
He  wished  a  state  house  and  public  prison  built,  for  want  of 
the  latter  of  which  he  said  criminals  and  debtors  escaped 
daily,  to  the  impoverishment  of  creditors,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  trade  and  encouragement  of  offenders,  to  the 
eluding  of  justice,  and  endangering  the  public  peace. 

But,  above  all,  he  recommended  to  the  Assembly  to  let 
true  religion  and  virtue  be  their  constant  care,  which  he 
doubted  not  would  naturally  induce  them  to  bring  in  a 
bill  for  the  better  support  and  maintenance  of  the  clergy, 
and  thereby  give  sufficient  encouragement  for  good,  pious, 
and  learned  men  to  come  among  them. 

The  committee  appointed  to  answer  this  address  were 
instructed  by  the  House  to  "  touch  slightly  (but  not  by 
way  of  argument  or  submission)  on  what  the  last  two 
Assemblies  had  done  heretofore  in  addressing  his  Majesty 
to  take  the  province  under  his  protection.     And  as  to  the 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  581 

donations  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  to  the  said  province 
that  they  take  notice  of  the  design  of  the  House  to  con- 
sider thereof  at  the  proper  time."^  They  did  not  regard 
the  taking  X12  for  £3  as  a  donation.  But  if  there  were 
right  and  justice  in  any  matter  on  the  part  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, it  was  surely  in  this.  They  had  agreed  to  let 
their  lands  for  £3  per  hundred  acres  at  a  time  when  the 
value  of  the  pound  in  currency  was  equal,  or  nearly  so, 
to  the  pound  sterling. ^  They  were  objecting  to  the 
emissions  of  paper  money  in  Carolina  on  general  public 
grounds,  to  which  the  Governor's  speech  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Assembly;  they  certainly  were  not  called  upon 
themselves  to  take  the  objectionable  paper  which  now 
would  pass  only  at  the  rate  of  four  to  one — that  is  to 
say,  twenty  shillings  for  five  ^  —  in  payment  of  the  pound 
for  which  they  had  bargained.  But  the  House  was  in  a 
quarrelsome  mood,  and  sneered  at  the  munificence  of  the 
surrender  of  their  arrears  by  the  Proprietors,  which,  by 
the  Governor's  notice,  was  now  limited  to  extend  only  to 
the  3d  of  May,  1716.  The  Assembly  declined  the  dona- 
tion. Governor  Johnson  was  anxious  that  they  should 
accept  it,  and  desired  them  to  order  a  rent-roll  made  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Proprietors.  "  As  the  Assembly  is  to 
pass  wholesome  laws,"  he  said,  "even  to  private  persons, 
much  more  to  the  Lords  Proprietors  who  are  our  masters!  " 
The  Assembly  took  offence  at  this  and  replied:  "We 
cannot  but  approve  of  your  Honor's  care  of  these  Lord- 
ships* interests  who  are,  as  you  say,  your  masters."  "If 
you  look  over  their  charters,"  was  the  answer,  "  you  will 
find  them  to  be  your  masters  likewise."* 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  281 ;  Commons  Journal  (MSS.). 

2  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  709. 

^  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.   Ca.  (Rivers),  280,  note;    Council  Journals 
(MSS.).  */6tU,281. 


582  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Among  the  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  colony 
which  had  been  adopted  immediately  after  the  raid  of 
the  Spaniards  and  the  destruction  of  Lord  Cardross's 
colony,  was  the  passage  of  an  act  providing  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  store  of  powder.  In  those  days  all 
merchant  ships,  as  well  as  others,  were  more  or  less 
armed  for  their  defence  against  pirates,  and  carried  a 
supply  of  ammunition.  The  act  levied  a  tax  in  kind 
upon  powder  from  every  ship  entering  a  port  of  the 
province ;  and  in  case  of  failure  to  deliver  this  tax  in 
kind,  the  ship  was  assessed  ^£9  for  every  ton  which  the 
ship  measured.  The  Governor  was  authorized  by  this 
act  to  appoint  a  person  to  receive  the  powder,  or  its 
equivalent  in  money.  The  act  was  amended  from  time 
to  time,  reducing  the  amount  of  the  tax,  but  continuing 
the  plan  for  maintaining  a  store  of  powder  for  emer- 
gencies. But  as  in  the  case  of  the  Receiver  General  in 
his  father's  administration,  the  Assembly  had  taken  the 
appointment  of  this  officer  to  themselves.  Governor 
Johnson,  determined  to  gather  in  as  far  as  possible  all 
powers  yielded  to  the  Assembly  in  former  administra- 
tions, took  the  opportunity  of  the  appointment  of  this 
officer  to  try  conclusions  with  that  body,  and  to  regain 
the  ground  lost  for  the  Proprietors  on  that  occasion. 
The  House  had  elected  Colonel  Michael  Brewton  to  be 
powder-receiver.  "The  keys  of  the  magazine,"  said 
Johnson,  "  shall  be  kept  only  by  the  officer  appointed  by 
the  Governor  who  is  military  chief,  and  grants  commis- 
sions ;  the  House  shall  forthwith  order  the  keys  de- 
livered to  Maj.  Wm.  Blakeway  whom  he  has  commissioned 
commander  of  the  fortification  and  to  take  charge  of 
the  magazines  which  office  cannot  be  separated  from  that 
of  powder  receiver."  The  House  refused  to  proceed  in 
business  if  this  demand  was  insisted  upon,  and  prepared 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNINIENT  583 

an  advertisement  to  be  made  public  in  such  a  case. 
The  Governor  partly  yielded,  and  proposed  for  the  sake 
of  peace  that  both  officers  might  be  appointed.  "  My 
officer  shall  keep  the  magazine  and  give  receipts  to  your 
officer  'for  all  powder  delivered  into  his  keeping." 
"  What  is  the  use,"  replied  the  House,  "  of  a  powder- 
receiver  who  don't  keep  the  powder  ? "  "  But  I  insist 
on  keeping  it,"  said  Johnson,  "  for  I  am  his  Majesty's  the 
King's  Lieutenant."  The  following  advertisement  was 
immediately  fixed  up  at  the  watch-house  by  order  of 
the  Assembly :  — 

"  Whereas  in  and  by  an  act  entitled  an  act  declaring  the  right  of 
the  House  of  Commons  for  the  time  being  to  nominate  the  Public 
Receiver  and  duly  ratified  in  open  Assembly  the  5th  day  of  July  1707, 
among  other  things  therein  contained,  it  is  enacted  that  the  power  right 
and  authority  of  nominating  and  appointing  the  public  receiver,  and 
comptroller,  powder  receiver  and  all  such  officers  who  receive  a  settled 
salary  out  of  the  public  treasury  of  this  province,  sliall  always  remain 
and  be  solely  in  the  disposal  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  time 
being,  who  shall  put  out,  call  to  an  account,  and  put  in  place  from 
time  to  time  all  such  officers  according  to  their  discretion ;  and 
whereas  this  present  House  of  Commons  did  on  Saturday  the  7th  of 
December  instant  nominate  and  appoint  Col.  Michael  Brewton  to 
be  powder-receiver  in  this  province,  and  in  that  station  to  act  and 
do  in  all  things  as  the  laws  thereof  now  or  hereafter  to  be  in  force 
shall  direct  and  order  him  :  —  These  are  therefore  to  give  notice  and 
require  all  masters  and  commanders  of  ships  and  vessels,  liable  by 
law  to  pay  any  powder  to  the  powder-receiver,  who  shall  after  the 
date  hereof  clear  out  and  depart  this  province,  that  they  pay  the 
powder  due  and  payable  according  to  law  for  the  several  respective 
ships  they  shall  happen  to  be  masters  or  commanders  of,  unto 
Colonel  Michael  Brewton  appointed  powder-receiver  as  aforesaid, 
and  to  no  person  else  inhabiting  in  the  same  whatsoever,  as  they  will 
answer  the  contrary  by  being  prosecuted  as  the  law  directs.  Signed 
by  order  of  the  House.     George  Logan  Speaker."  ^ 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  282,  283. 


584  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

But  notwithstanding  these  disagreements  between  the 
Governor  and  Commons,  some  legislation  was  accom- 
plished at  this  session.  Above  all  things,  the  Governor 
had  recommended  to  the  care  of  the  Assembly  the  main- 
tenance of  true  religion  and  virtue  and  the  support  of  the 
clergy.  To  this  the  Assembly  responded  without  reli- 
gious controversy.  They  erected  another  parish  in  the 
upper  part  of  St.  Andrew's,  to  be  called  St.  George's,^ 
and  passed  an  act  for  the  further  encouragement  of  the 
clergy  of  the  province  by  advancing  their  salaries,  by 
which  the  rector  of  St.  Philip's,  Charles  Town,  was  given  an 
additional  salary  of  XlOO  per  annum,  and  the  rectors  of 
the  other  parishes  £bO.^  An  elaborate  act  for  the  bet- 
ter governing  and  regulating  of  white  servants  was  also 
enacted.^  By  another,  the  Governor  was  empowered  to 
enlist  140  men,  to  be  drawn  from  the  companies  through- 
out the  province,  and  to  organize  them  for  its  defence.* 
An  additional  act  to  that  for  laying  an  imposition  on 
liquors,  goods,  and  merchandise,  of  the  30th  of  June, 
1716,  was  passed^  by  which  the  duty  of  <£30  on  each 
slave  brought  into  the  province  was  continued  and  cer- 
tain doubts  in  regard  to  the  same  were  removed.  A  new 
feature  of  the  act,  which  was  to  be  another  cause  of  dif- 
ference with  the  Proprietors,  was  that  all  liquors,  goods, 
negroes,  wares,  merchandise,  imported  into  the  province 
in  any  ship  or  vessel  owned  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  and  built  in  the  province,  were  declared  free 
of  all  duties  ;  and  all  such  goods,  etc.,  imported  in  ships 
or  vessels  built  here,  whose  owners  lived  out  of  the 
province,  should  be  liable  to  but  half  duties  ;  and  goods 
imported  in  ships  or  vessels  built  out  of  the  province, 
but  owned  by  inhabitants  of  it,  were  liable  to  but  three- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  9. 

2  Ihid.,  11.  «  Ibid.,  14.  *  Ibid.,  23. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNME 


quarters  duties.^     An  additional  act  was  also  passed  to 
continue  the  currency  of  the  bills  of  credit.^ 

The  pirates  were  again  on  the  coast  and  demanded  the 
attention  of  the  new  Governor. 


1  Statutes  of  So.  Co.,  vol.  Ill,  32. 


2  Ibid.,  34. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

1717-18 

Before  sending  Captain  Rogers  and  his  small  fleet  to 
New  Providence,  the  King  had  issued  a  proclamation 
promising  pardon  to  all  pirates  who  should  surrender 
themselves  within  twelve  months.  This  proclamation 
was  published  throughout  Carolina.  On  the  3d  of  De- 
cember, 1717,  Governor  Johnson  sent  in  a  message  to  the 
Commons  upon  the  subject. 

"  His  Majesty,"  he  said,  "  being  pleased  to  issue  out 
his  Royal  Proclamation  extending  his  pardon  to  all  pirates 
that  shall  lay  hold  on  the  same,  and  surrendering  them- 
selves according  to  the  time  limited  in  said  proclamation ; 
and  we  having  several  of  our  inhabitants  that  unwarily 
and  without  due  consideration  have  engaged  in  that  ill 
course  of  life  and  are  now  resident  at  the  Bahama  Islands, 
and  other  places  adjacent,  I  think  it  a  duty  incumbent 
on  me,  with  all  speed  to  send  his  Majesty's  proclamation 
thither  to  let  our  people  see  that  they  may  return  hither 
again  in  safety  to  us,  if  in  time  they  embrace  his  Majesty's 
royal  favor  ;  therefore  some  proper  person  must  be  thought 
of  to  carry  this  proclamation  to  them ;  and  Col.  Parris 
being  willing  to  undertake  the  same  (who  is  very  well 
known  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province)  if  you  can 
spare  him  from  the  Public  business ;  I  shall  give  him  my 
instructions  accordingly."  1 

1  Commons  Journal  (S.  C.  Hughson),  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies, 
2  series,  V,  VI,  VII,  67.     In  the  following  account  of  the  operations  of 

586 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  587 

There  is  no  record  that  Colonel  Parris  ever  went  to 
the  Bahamas  with  the  King's  proclamation,  or  of  the  ac- 
ceptance of  its  offers  by  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  Carolina, 
who  had  so  "  unwarily  "  engaged  in  that  ill  course  of  life  ; 
nor  is  there  any  record  of  the  numbers  who  had  left  the 
province  for  that  purpose.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  there  were  many.  Governor  Johnson  speaks  of  them 
as  "  several,"  which  may  be  any  small  number  more  than 
two ;  but  there  were  not  enough  to  arouse  sufficient  in- 
terest to  induce  further  action  in  regard  to  the  matter 
of  their  pardon.  The  author  of  the  essay  upon  the  sub- 
ject to  which  we  have  had  repeated  occasion  to  refer  is 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  Governor  Johnson  referred 
to  Carolinians  in  his  communication  to  the  Proprietors,  in 
which  he  complains  that  the  proclamation  of  peace  had 
worked  no  good  effect  upon  the  pirates,  as  they  shortly 
returned  to  their  evil  courses.  The  Governor  was,  in  this 
letter,  speaking  of  the  pirates  generally  ;  there  is  no  allu- 
sion in  this  paper  to  any  from  Carolina.  In  a  community 
in  which  there  were  constantly  new-comers,  adventurers 
from  all  parts  of  Europe  and  America,  it  would  have  been 
strange  if  there  had  not  been  some  ready  to  join  in  the  wild 
life  of  the  buccaneers,  which  had,  until  so  recently,  been 
encouraged  by  the  powers  that  were  now  attempting  to 
suppress  them.  There  were  no  doubt  some  such,  as  ob- 
served in  the  introductory  chapter,  but  the  title  of  the 
essay  to  which  we  have  referred,  to  wit.  The  Carolina 
Pirates  and  Colonial  Commerce^  is  misleading.  Pirates 
infested  the  coast  of  Carolina ;  but  they  were  in  no  sense 
Carolina  pirates.     Of  the  forty-five  who  constituted  the 

the  pirates  on  the  Carolina  coast,  the  resistance  of  the  colony  and  their 
ultimate  defeat,  the  facts  are  taken  generally  from  this  most  exhaustive 
study  of  the  subject  by  Mr.  Hughson,  and  his  statement  often  followed 
with  but  little  change  in  phraseology. 


588  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

party  taken  in  1699,  there  were  Englishmen,  Frenchmen, 
Portuguese,  and  Indians,  but  no  Carolinians ;  among  the 
thirty-eight  pirates  seized  and  brought  into  Charles  Town 
for  trial  1716-18,  there  were  but  three  who  claimed  to 
have  been  formerly  inhabitants  of  the  province.  Upon 
their  trials  one  of  these  was  acquitted ;  two  were  among 
the  convicted.  Judging  from  the  citizenship  of  those 
who  were  taken  and  tried,  and  most  of  whom  were  exe- 
cuted, it  would  have  been  more  in  consonance  with  the 
facts  to  have  spoken  of  them  as  British  pirates  on  the 
coast  of  Carolina.  They  came  from  England,  Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  the  West  Indies. 

Captain  Rogers  arrived  at  New  Providence  in  July, 
1718,  and  took  possession  of  the  colony  for  the  Crown. 
He  found  a  large  number  of  pirates  there,  most  of  whom 
surrendered  and  took  the  oath.  But  one,  Charles  Vane, 
refused  to  do  so.  He  pursued  a  more  desperate  course. 
When  he  heard  that  Rogers  had  arrived  off  the  bar,  he 
wrote  him  a  letter  offering  to  surrender,  on  the  condition 
that  he  would  be  permitted  to  dispose  of  what  spoil  he 
had  in  the  manner  that  suited  himself .  Receiving  no  as- 
surances, he  determined  to  escape.  In  crossing  the  bar, 
he  was  met  by  two  of  Rogers's  vessels,  with  whom  he  ex- 
changed shots,  and,  after  several  exciting  adventures,  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  safely  to  sea  with  ninety  men,  in  a  sloop 
belonging  to  one  of  his  officers  named  Yeates,  and  made 
for  the  Carolina  coast,  where  he  engaged  in  several  pirati- 
cal exploits.  While  the  action  of  the  British  authorities 
did  much  to  relieve  the  West  Indies,  it  greatly  aggravated 
the  situation  in  Carolina,  at  the  instance  of  the  colonists 
of  which  the  expedition  had  mainly  been  undertaken. 
Finding  themselves  driven  out  from  New  Providence  and 
the  Bahamas  generally,  the  pirates  established  themselves 
on  the  North  Carolina  coast ;   and,  before  many  months 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  589 

had  passed,  they  swarmed  into  the  Cape  Fear  and  Pamlico 
rivers  in  greater  numbers  than  the  government  of  that 
weak  colony  could  possibly  oppose.^ 

While  Rogers  was  on  his  voyage  to  New  Providence, 
early  in  June,  Edward  Thatch,^  who,  under  the  sobriquet 
of  "  Black  Beard,"  had  spread  terror  along  the  entire  North 
American  coast,  suddenly  appeared  off  Charles  Town  with 
a  powerful  equipment,  and  began  a  series  of  most  fla- 
grant outrages.  It  is  said  that  he  had  come  in  under 
the  King's  proclamation  in  January,  and  surrendered  to 
Governor  Eden  of  North  Carolina  ;  but  the  temptations  of 
the  old  free  life  proving  too  strong,  before  the  end  of  the 
winter  he  again  fitted  out  from  North  Carolina,  and  was 
once  more  harrying  the  coast,  and  capturing  vessels  of  all 
nations.  It  was  during  one  of  these  cruises  that  he  visited 
the  Bay  of  Honduras,  where  he  met  Stede  Bonnet,  late  of 
Barbadoes,  and  the  two  returned  to  Carolina  together, 
taking  numerous  prizes  by  the  way.  From  the  captured 
vessels  he  recruited  his  force  so  that  by  the  time  he 
reached  the  South  Carolina  coast  he  was  in  command  of  a 
fleet  consisting  of  a  ship  of  more  than  forty  guns,  and 
three  attendant  sloops,  on  board  of  which  were  above  400 
men. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1718,  Governor  Johnson  writes  to 
the  Proprietors  :  "About  fourteen  days  since,  four  sail  ap- 
peared in  sight  of  the  town,  immediately  took  the  pilot  boat 
which  was  stationed  on  the  bar,  and  in  a  few  days  took 
eight  or  nine  outward-bound  vessels  with  several  of  the 
best  inhabitants  of  Charles  Town  on  board.  "^  Among 
the  passengers  thus  taken  was  Samuel  Wragg,  a  member 

1  S.  C.  Hughson,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  2  series,  V,  VI,  VII,  66. 

2  Also  spelled  "  Teach,"  but  Hughson,  whom  we  closely  follow  in  this 
account,  adopts  the  spelling  in  the  text. 

3  Coll  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I[,  236. 


590  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

of  the  Council  of  the  province,  and  his  son  William,  then 
but  four  years  of  age,  who  became  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  in  the  American  colonies,  and  to  whose 
memory  there  is  a  tablet  in  Westminster  Abbey.  How 
the  pirates  became  aware  that  they  had  made  so  distin- 
guished a  prisoner,  says  Hughson,  is  not  known ;  but, 
having  ascertained  the  fact,  they  determined  to  make  the 
best  of  their  good  fortune.  At  this  time  the  fleet  was  in 
need  of  certain  medicines,  and  Thatch  directed  his  sur- 
geon to  prepare  a  list  of  the  desired  articles,  and  sent  him 
to  demand  them  of  Governor  Johnson.  Arming  a  boat, 
he  sent  it  up  to  the  town  in  command  of  one  of  his  offi- 
cers named  Richards.  The  officer  was  accompanied  by  a 
Mr.  Marks,  a  captured  citizen  who  was  ordered  to  lay  the 
situation  before  the  Governor,  and  to  inform  him  if  the 
necessary  supplies  were  not  immediately  forthcoming  and 
the  men  permitted  to  return  unharmed,  the  heads  of  Mr. 
Wragg  and  the  other  Charles  Town  prisoners  would  be 
sent  to  him.  Marks  was  given  two  days  to  accomplish 
his  mission,  and  the  prisoners,  who  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  demand,  and  the  penalty  of  its  refusal,  awaited, 
it  may  well  be  imagined,  with  the  most  intense  anxiety 
the  return  of  the  embassy.  Two  days  passed,  and  the 
party  did  not  return.  Thatch  suspected  that  his  man  had 
been  seized  by  the  Governor,  and  notified  Wragg  that  the 
other  prisoners  and  himself  should  prepare  for  immediate 
death.  He  was  persuaded,  however,  to  stay  this  cruel 
order  for  at-  least  a  day,  and,  while  awaiting  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time,  a  message  was  received  from  Marks  that 
their  boat  had  been  overturned  by  a  squall,  and  that,  after 
many  difficiilties,  they  had  succeeded  in  reaching  Charles 
Town.  This  explanation  satisfied  Thatch  for  a  while,  and 
he  gave  the  prisoners  the  freedom  of  the  vessel  until  the 
third  day,  when,  losing  patience,  he  again  swore  that  he 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  591 

would  be  revenged  on  the  colony  for  the  supposed  arrest 
of  his  men,  by  putting  Wragg  and  their  other  captive  to 
death.  The  story  is  told  by  Johnson  in  his  History  of  the 
Pirates^  that,  in  order  to  save  themselves,  the  prisoners 
agreed  to  pilot  the  fleet  into  the  harbor  and  assist  Thatch 
in  battering  down  the  town ;  but  Hughson,  in  his  study  of 
the  subject,  very  properly  discredits  the  story.  Wragg's 
high  character  would,  of  itself,  be  a  sufficient  ground  for 
refusing  it  belief  unless  substantiated  by  higher  evidence 
than  that  of  the  pirates  themselves.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  the  pilot  captured  off  the  bar  would  have  been  forced 
to  bring  in  their  ships  had  the  pirates  so  desired ;  but  it 
is  altogether  improbable  that  Thatch  would  have  vent- 
ured his  forty  guns  against  the  100  which  lined  the  forti- 
fications of  the  town,  and  risked  his  vessels  in  the  harbor 
where  Governor  Johnson  and  Rhett  would  have  had  him 
under  such  disadvantage.  He  could  enforce  his  terrible 
threat  upon  the  lives  of  valued  citizens  without  danger  to 
himself,  as  he  lay  outside  the  bar ;  to  have  come  in  would 
have  lessened  his  power  over  his  prisoners,  and  endangered 
his  own  safety. 

In  the  meantime  the  greatest  consternation  prevailed  in 
the  town.  The  friends  of  the  captives  were  strong  and 
numerous.  Would  the  Governor  sacrifice  their  lives  rather 
than  allow  these  people,  even  though  they  were  pirates,  a 
few  dollars'  worth  of  medicines?  Might  he  not  now  save 
the  lives  of  valued  citizens,  and  afterwards  avenge  the 
insult  to  the  province  ?  Governor  Johnson  convened  his 
Council  and  laid  the  situation  before  it.  The  demands  of 
the  pirates  were  acceded  to.  The  medicines  were  pre- 
pared without  delay,  and  in  a  few  hours  Marks,  accom- 
panied by  his  guard,  was  on  his  way  to  the  bar.  A  large 
quantity  of  rich  spoil  having  been  secured  from  the  capt- 
ured vessels,  Thatch   sent  Wragg   and  the  rest  of  the 


592  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

prisoners  ashore  in  a  half-naked  condition.  After  suffer- 
ing numerous  hardships  they  made  their  way  back  to 
Charles  Town,  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives.  Thatch  is 
said  to  have  secured  16000  in  specie  from  Wragg  alone. ^ 

From  Charles  Town  Thatch  went  to  North  Carolina, 
where  he  remained  for  some  time  in  comparative  idleness; 
then,  resuming  his  course,  his  depredations  were  extended 
up  the  coast  as  far  as  Pennsylvania,  not  infrequently  vis- 
iting Philadelphia.  His  career  was,  however,  soon  ended. 
His  crew  was  captured  and  himself  slain  by  a  party 
organized  by  Governor  Spotswood,  of  Virginia,  and  fitted 
out  to  clear  the  coasts  of  that  province. 

In  his  letter  of  the  18th  of  June,  Governor  Johnson  had 
appealed  to  the  Board  of  Proprietors  for  a  frigate  or  two 
to  cruise  about  for  the  protection  of  the  Carolina  com- 
merce. "  Hardly  a  ship  goes  to  sea,"  he  wrote,  "but  falls 
into  the  hands  of  the  pirates.  "^  But  no  assistance  came. 
During  the  summer  the  pirates  gave  little  trouble  to  tlie 
few  vessels  which  sailed  with  their  indifferent  cargoes ; 
but  as  soon  as  the  autumn  set  in,  familiar  as  they  were 
with  the  Carolina  trade,  they  began  to  prepare  for  active 
operations,  as  it  was  at  that  season  when  the  rice  and 
other  products  of  the  province  brought  the  rich  mer- 
chantmen to  the  town  with  their  goods  and  specie  for 
exchange.  During  the  months  of  September  and  Octo- 
ber their  career  found  its  culmination  in  a  series  of 
exploits  unparalleled  in  audacity  since  the  days  of  the 
previous  century,  when  the  buccaneers  in  the  West 
Indies,  under  the  leadership  of  the  infamous  Henry  Mor- 
gan, held  the  seas  against  the  fleets  of  the  then  powerful 
kingdom  of  Spain. 

In  company  with  Thatch  on  several  of  his  cruises,  in- 

1  Hughson,  ante. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  267. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  593 

eluding  that  off  Charles  Town  harbor  just  related,  there 
had  been  one,  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  sea  robbers 
of  this  period,  and  whose  destiny  it  was  to  perish  upon 
the  gallows  in  the  town  he  with  Thatch  had  so  insulted. 
This  was  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  the  last  man,  as  it  has  been 
said,  who  could  have  been  expected  to  have  launched  out 
upon  such  an  abandoned  and  desperate  career.  A  man 
past  the  meridian  of  life,  of  good  antecedents,  possessed 
of  wealth,  and  of  a  considerable  degree  of  education  and 
refinement,  as  such  accomplishments  were  in  those  rude 
times,  there  was  every  reason  for  him  to  remain  at  home 
and  end  his  days  in  peace  and  honor.  He  had  served 
with  some  distinction  in  the  Army  of  Barbadoes,  had  been 
honorably  retired  after  attaining  the  rank  of  Major,  and 
was  residing  at  Bridgetown  at  peace  with  all  the  world, 
and  in  good  favor  with  the  citizens  of  that  thriving 
colony.  Besides  this,  Bonnet  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
sea,  and  knew  so  little  of  the  requirements  of  a  sailor's  life 
that  his  first  experiences  resulted  only  in  disaster.  Indeed, 
it  was  said,  and  probably  with  truth,  that  his  mind  was 
disordered. 

It  was  early  in  the  year  1717  that  Bonnet  began  his 
piratical  career.  Being  a  man  of  wealth,  he  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  such  a  vessel  and  equipment  as  he 
desired ;  and  one  dark  night,  in  company  with  a  crew 
of  seventy  desperate  men,  he  sailed  across  the  Bridge- 
town bar  in  a  sloop  of  ten  guns,  which  he  had  named  the 
Revenge  —  a  name,  as  it  has  been  observed,  common  in  all 
the  pirate  fleets  of  that  time.  He  made  directly  for  the 
Capes  of  Virginia,  and  stationed  himself  in  that  great 
highway  of  commerce.  In  a  few  days  he  had  taken  a 
number  of  merchant  vessels,  several  of  which  he  burned 
after  plundering  them  and  sending  the  crews  ashore. 
Preying  for  a  time  upon  the  commerce  of  New  York  and 
2q 


594  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLliSTA 

New  England,  Bonnet  sailed  for  South  Carolina,  and 
came  off  the  bar  of  Charles  Town  in  August,  1717.  He 
had  not  waited  here  long  before  a  sloop  belonging  to 
Barbadoes  hove  in  sight,  followed  almost  immediately  by 
a  New  England  brigantine.  The  brigantine  he  sent  into 
Charles  Town  after  relieving  her  of  all  her  valuables ;  the 
sloop  he  retained  fi3r  his  own  use,  dismissing  the  crew. 

The  brigantine  had  scarcely  crossed  the  bar  of  Charles 
Town  when  Bonnet  weighed  anchor  and  set  sail  for  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina  to  refit  his  vessel  for  another 
cruise.  The  Barbadian  sloop  he  burned.  After  refitting 
the  Revenge^  Bonnet  again  put  to  sea,  but  without  any 
definite  determination  as  to  his  course.  His  men  had 
discovered  his  ignorance  of  nautical  affairs  soon  after 
leaving  Barbadoes,  and  it  was  only  by  the  influence  of 
his  superior  courage  and  by  means  of  threats  and  frequent 
punishments  that  Bonnet  prevented  an  open  mutiny.  The 
Revenge  was  now  steered  for  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  the 
great  rendezvous  of  pirates.  Here  Bonnet  met  Thatch, 
and  the  two  entered  upon  a  cruise  together.  Thatch,  soon 
perceiving  that  Bonnet  knew  nothing  of  seamanship,  and 
deeming  him  an  unsafe  man  to  be  in  command  of  so  fine 
a  sloop  as  the  Revenge^  coolly  deposed  him,  and  placing 
Richards,  one  of  his  own  officers,  in  charge,  he  took 
Bonnet  on  board  his  own  vessel,  where  he  gave  him  a 
position  of  ease  and  security.  Bonnet,  however  indig- 
nant, was  powerless  to  resist.  Thatch,  with  a  desperate 
crew  in  sympathy  with  him  and  sharing  his  contempt  of 
Bonnet,  was  all-powerful. 

The  first  prize  taken  by  Thatch's  newly  organized 
squadron  was  the  Adventure  from  Jamaica,  whose  mas- 
ter, David  Herriot,  himself  joining  the  pirates,  was  des- 
tined to  play  a  tragic  part  in  Bonnet's  subsequent  career. 
Bonnet,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  was  in  company  with 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  595 

Thatch  on  several  cruises,  including  the  celebrated  one 
off  Charles  Town  harbor  in  June,  1718,  after  which  he 
sailed  in  the  same  fleet  to  Topsail  Inlet,  North  Carolina, 
where  the  company  was  disbanded. 

Thus  released  from  the  control  of  Thatch,  Bonnet  was 
enabled  to  resume  command  and  proceed  to  sea  on  his 
own  responsibility.  Availing  himself  of  the  King's  proc- 
lamation of  the  year  before,  he  proceeded  to  Bath,  where 
he  surrendered  to  Governor  Eden,  took  the  oath,  and 
received  a  certificate  of  pardon.  At  the  same  time,  he 
procured  a  clearance  for  his  vessel  for  the  Island  of  St. 
Thomas,  announcing  his  intention  of  applying  for  a  com- 
mission there  as  a  privateer  against  the  Spaniards.  Thus 
armed  with  clearance  papers  and  a  pardon  by  a  legally 
constituted  authority,  in  the  name  of  his  Majesty,  Bonnet 
was  prepared  to  continue  his  career  of  crime  and  blood- 
shed under  better  auspices  than  those  enjoyed  by  any 
pirate  since  the  time  that  Kidd  sailed  from  England 
with  the  personal  sanction  of  King  William  himself. 
Returned  to  Topsail  Inlet,  he  rescued  a  number  of  sailors 
who  had  been  marooned  by  Thatch,  —  that  is,  put  ashore 
on  a  desert  island  and  abandoned,  —  and  shipped  them 
on  the  Revenge  under  the  pretence  of  taking  them  to 
St.  Thomas.  Having  thus  procured  a  good  crew,  having 
himself  attained  considerable  proficiency  in  seamanship, 
and  secured  the  confidence  of  his  men  by  his  good  fight- 
ing qualities,  he  determined  first  to  avenge  himself  upon 
Thatch.  But  Thatch  had  sailed  away.  Learning  that  he 
had  gone  up  the  coast.  Bonnet  followed  fast  after  him,  but 
his  quest  was  unsuccessful ;  and  after  cruising  about  for 
a  few  days,  he  proceeded  to  the  coast  of  Virginia.  On 
this  expedition.  Bonnet  appointed  David  Herriot  as  sail- 
ing-master of  his  sloop.  Bonnet  at  this  time  changed 
his  name  to  that  of  "  Captain  Thomas,"  —  probably  from 


596  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

fear  of  the  consequences  if  captured  after  having  so  re- 
cently accepted  the  King's  pardon.  He  changed  also  the 
name  of  his  vessel  to  that  of  the  Royal  James.  Having 
thus  prepared  himself  for  the  most  desperate  enterprises, 
Bonnet  announced  his  true  intentions  to  his  crew  and 
declared  his  purpose  to  sail  up  the  coast  toward  New 
England  in  search  of  booty.  This  announcement  was 
said  to  have  been  a  surprise  to  some  of  the  men,  and 
some  who  were  afterwards  captured  were  acquitted  on 
their  trial  upon  the, ground  that  they  had  not  assented 
to  the  pirac}^  Bonnet  proceeded  up  the  coast,  commit- 
ting several  piracies,  and,  sailing  into  Delaware  Bay, 
took  several  valuable  merchantmen  and  terrorized  the 
whole  country.  Among  the  captures  in  Delaware  Bay 
were  those  of  the  sloop  Francis^  Captain  Peter  Man- 
waring,  and  the  sloop  Fortune^  Captain  Thomas  Read. 
These  captures  were  profitable  ones,  and,  satisfied  with 
the  result  of  this  cruise,  Bonnet  returned  to  Cape  Fear, 
where  the  fleet  arrived  in  August,  1718,  and  immediately 
set  his  men  to  overhauling  and  repairing  the  sloop  for 
another  expedition. 

Governor  Johnson  and  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
were  burning  with  the  desire  to  avenge  the  insult  inflicted 
upon  the  colony  the  June  before ;  and  though  the  prov- 
ince was  greatly  reduced  financially  by  the  expenses  of 
the  Indian  wars,  they  determined  to  expend  every  energy 
in  driving  the  freebooter  from  their  coast.  When  the 
news,  therefore,  reached  the  Governor  that  the  pirates 
were  rendezvousing  at  Cape  P^ear,  it  was  at  once  deter- 
mined not  to  await  their  appearance  again  off  the  bar  of 
Charles  Town,  but  to  seek  them  out  in  their  place  of 
refuge  and  destroy  them. 

Colonel  Rhett's  seamanship  came  again  to  the  assistance 
of  the  colony.     He  waited  upon  the  Governor  and  asked 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  597 

permission  to  fit  out  two  vessels  against  the  pirate,  who, 
rumor  said,  was  in  fighting  trim  with  a  sloop  of  ten  guns 
and  a  hardy  crew  of  sixty  men.  A  commission  was  issued 
to  Rhett,  and  he  pressed  into  service  two  sloops,  —  the 
Henry^  Captain  John  Masters,  and  the  Sea  Nymph^  Cap- 
tain Fayrer  Hall.  The  Henry^  the  larger  vessel  of  the 
two,  was  fitted  with  eight  guns  and  seventy  men,  and  was 
selected  by  Rhett  as  his  flagship.  The  Sea  Nymph  car- 
ried the  same  number  of  guns  and  sixty  men. 

On  September  10  Colonel  Rhett  went  on  board  the 
Henry.  But  just  as  he  was  about  to  weigh  anchor,  the 
immediate  object  of  his  expedition  was  suddenly  changed 
by  a  piece  of  startling  intelligence.  A  small  sloop,  with 
one  Cook  in  command,  belonging  to  Antigua,  came  into 
port,  and  reported  that  she  had  been  overhauled  and  plun- 
dered by  the  most  famous  pirate  of  the  times,  Charles 
Vane,  who  had  just  escaped,  as  we  have  seen,  from 
Rogers's  fleet,  and  Avho  now  lay  in  front  of  the  harbor 
with  a  brigantine  of  twelve  guns  and  ninety  men.  Cook 
also  reported  that  Vane  had  captured  two  other  vessels 
bound  for  Charles  Town,  one  a  Barbadian  sloop,  Captain 
Dill  commanding,  and  the  other  a  brigantine  from  the 
Guinea  coast  with  a  cargo  of  over  ninety  negroes.  The 
negroes  had  been  removed  from  the  brigantine  and  placed 
on  board  a  sloop  commanded  by  Vane's  companion,  Yeates, 
which  Vane  had  been  using  as  a  tender.  Yeates,  finding 
himself  in  charge  of  a  good  sloop  with  several  guns,  a 
crew  of  fifteen  men,  and  a  valuable  cargo,  determined  to 
desert  Vane,  and  accordingly  at  midnight  sailed  away  to 
the  south.  Vane  discovered  the  treachery  before  many 
hours,  and  was  in  hot  pursuit,  but  finding  no  traces  of  the 
fugitive,  he  had  returned  to  Charles  Town  just  in  time  to 
intercept  four  vessels  bound  out  for  London.  Two  of 
these  escaped  and  continued  their  voyage,  but  the  Nep- 


598  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

tune^  Captain  King,  carrying  sixteen  guns,  and  the  Em- 
peror^ Captain  Power,  with  ten  guns,  were  both  taken, 
witli  valuable  cargoes. 

The  immediate  object  of  Rhett's  expedition  was  thus 
changed ;  on  the  15th  of  September,  Rhett  crossed  the 
bar,  and,  having  learned  from  Cook  that  Vane  intended 
going  into  an  inlet  to  the  south  to  repair,  he  stood  down 
the  coast  for  several  leagues,  scouring  the  rivers  and 
creeks  without  success ;  and,  finding  no  signs  of  the 
pirate,  and  believing  all  danger  from  this  quarter  to  be 
past,  he  proceeded  to  the  execution  of  his  original  design 
without  returning  to  make  report  to  Governor  Johnson. 

In  the  meantime,  Charles  Town  had  again  been  thrown 
into  a  state  of  agitation  by  the  news  of  the  landing  of  a 
party  of  pirates  at  some  distance  to  the  south.  The  intel- 
ligence was  brought  by  no  other  than  one  of  the  pirate 
crew ;  and  when  it  was  learned  that  such  a  character  had 
arrived  and  requested  an  audience  with  the  Governor,  the 
people,  remembering  a  similar  embassy  which  had  been 
sent  on  by  Thatch  some  months  previous,  were  seized  with 
great  consternation.  It  was  soon  learned,  however,  that 
the  pirate's  errand  was  a  peaceful  one.  He  informed 
Governor  Johnson  that  Yeates,  who  had  escaped  from 
Vane,  had  put  into  North  Edisto  River  with  his  cargo 
of  negroes,  and  wished  to  know  if  pardon  would  be 
granted  him  and  his  crew  if  they  came  to  the  city,  de- 
livered up  the  negroes,  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
An  affirmative  reply  was  returned,  and  shortly  afterwards 
Yeates  and  his  fifteen  men  came  in  with  the  negroes, 
delivered  them  to  the  authorities,  and  received  their  cer- 
tificates of  pardon. 

Rhett  sailed  for  Cape  Fear  about  September  20.  He 
spent  some  time  in  exploring  the  coast  in  search  of  Vane, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of   the  26th  that  he 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  599 

sighted  the  great  headland  from  which  North  Carolina's 
chief  river  derives  its  name.  The  mouth  of  the  stream 
was  obstructed  by  sand  bars  which  could  not  be  crossed 
with  safety  without  an  experienced  pilot,  and  the  pilot 
whose  services  Rhett  had  engaged  seems  to  have  had  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  the  channel.  The  sloops  had 
scarcely  entered  the  mouth  of  the  river  when  both  ran 
aground,  but  not  before  they  had  sighted  the  topmasts 
of  the  pirate  and  his  two  prizes  over  a  point  of  land 
some  distance  up  the  stream.  Rhett  could  not  get  his 
vessels  afloat  until  late  in  the  night,  and  was  therefore 
compelled  to  wait  for  dawn  before  making  any  hostile 
movement. 

The  pirates  were  not  found  off  their  guard.  The 
watch,  posted  to  give  timely  warning  of  the  approach  of 
any  vessel,  reported  the  appearance  of  Rhett's  fleet  im- 
mediately after  it  crossed  the  bar.  In  the  growing  dusk 
it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  whether  or  not  they  were 
merchantmen,  and  Bonnet,  or  Thomas,  as  he  now  called 
himself,  manned  three  armed  boats  and  sent  them  to 
reconnoitre.  They  had  not  come  within  gunshot  when, 
perceiving  the  character  of  Rhett's  ships,  they  hastened 
back  to  the  Royal  James  and  reported  the  result  of  their 
observations. 

Bonnet  understood  at  once  that  the  break  of  day  would 
bring  on  a  fight  that  would  be  to  the  death,  and  he  began 
preparations  immediately  for  the  heaviest  combat  of  his 
piratical  career.  All  night  the  crew,  incited  to  constant 
vigilance  and  unceasing  labor  by  alternate  threats  and 
promises,  worked  clearing  the  decks  and  making  ready 
for  action. 

On  board  the  Henry  and  the  Sea  Nymph  no  less  active 
preparations  were  made.  When  Bonnet's  men  came  down 
the  river  early  in  the  evening,  the  South  Carolinians  antici- 


600  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

pated  an  immediate  attack,  and,  fearing  that  it  might  yet 
be  made,  they  lay  on  their  arms  all  ! light. 

The  sun  had  barely  risen  above  the  headlands  which 
command  the  entrance  to  the  river,  on  Saturday  the  27th, 
when  the  South  Carolinians,  looking  across  the  point  of 
land  behind  which  the  pirates  lay,  saw  the  sails  of  the 
Royal  James  being  run  up  the  masts  and  heard  the  rattle 
of  the  chains  as  the  anchors  were  hoisted  to  the  deck. 
A  moment  later  the  pirate  craft  swung  round  before  the 
breeze,  which  was  blowing  straight  off  the  land,  and  with 
all  sail  set  came  flying  down  the  river  in  the  attempt  to 
pass  the  place  where  the  two  sloops  lay  at  anchor. 

Bonnet's  design  was  evident.  He  saw  that  his  oppo- 
Dents  outnumbered  him  two  to  one,  and  he  determined  to 
maintain  a  running  conflict  as  he  drove  through  to  reach 
the  open  sea.  Rhett  saw  his  purpose,  and  both  sloops 
weighed  anchor  and  made  for  Bonnet  as  he  rounded  the 
shelving  point  of  land.  Taking  a  position  on  either 
quarter  of  the  Royal  James,  with  a  view  to  boarding, 
the  Henry  and  the  Sea  Nymph  bore  down  in  such  a  direc- 
tion as  to  force  Bonnet  to  steer  close  to  the  shore.  Rhett 
had  planned  this  movement  without  any  knowledge  of 
the  river,  and  it  proved  as  disastrous  to  his  own  vessels  as 
to  that  of  the  enemy.  In  a  few  moments  the  Royal  James 
was  aground,  and  the  attacking  sloops,  unable  to  come 
about  with  sufficient  dispatch,  ran  into  the  same  shoal 
water,  and  were  soon  hard  and  fast  on  the  sandy  bottom 
of  the  channel.  The  Henry  grounded  within  pistol  shot  of 
the  pirate,  on  the  latter's  bow,  while  the  Sea  Nymph,  in  her 
endeavor  to  cut  off  the  flight,  struck  the  bank  so  far  ahead 
as  to  be  completely  out  of  range,  and  was  of  no  service  un- 
til five  hours  later,  when  she  floated  off  on  the  rising  tide. 

As  soon  as  it  was  found  impossible  to  get  the  Henry 
afloat,  Colonel  Rhett  gave  orders  for  a  heavy  fire  to  be 


UNDER   THE  PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  601 

opened,  and  the  sloop,  with  her  ten  guns,  began  pouring 
broadsides  into  the  pirate,  while  the  crew  kept  up  a  con- 
tinual fire  with  small  arms,  which  did  almost  as  much 
execution  as  the  heavier  fire  from  deck.  During  this 
part  of  the  fight  the  South  Carolinians  were  at  a  tre- 
mendous disadvantage.  When  the  Henry  and  the  Royal 
James  went  aground,  both  careened  in  the  same  direction, 
so  that  the  deck  of  the  pirate  was  turned  away  from  the 
Henry ^  while  every  foot  of  the  latter's  deck  was  merci- 
lessly exposed.  The  heavy  shot  from  the  South  Caro- 
linians could  only  take  effect  on  the  hull  of  the  pirate, 
while  their  own  deck  could  be  swept  from  end  to  end  at 
every  discharge.  Lying  in  these  positions,  the  two  ves- 
sels maintained  for  five  hours  a  continuous  and  bloody 
contest.  The  South  Carolinians,  though  under  the  most 
trying  conditions,  conducted  themselves  with  the  most 
dauntless  courage.  Exposed  as  was  their  position,  it 
would  seem  certain  death  to  man  the  guns  ;  but  notwith- 
standing this,  every  man  stood  to  his  post  without  a 
thought  of  flinching,  and  the  conflict  was  not  permitted 
to  languish  for  a  single  moment. 

The  pirates  saw  their  advantage  from  the  beginning, 
and  availed  themselves  of  it  in  every  possible  way.  For 
some  time  it  seemed  certain  that  the  victory  would  be 
theirs,  and,  in  spite  of  the  spirit  displayed  by  Rhett  and 
his  men,  Bonnet  considered  it  but  a  matter  of  a  few  hours 
when  the  pirate  ensign  would  triumph  over  the  colors  of 
the  King.  They  "  made  a  wiff  in  their  bloody  flag,"  says 
a  contemporary  account,  "and  beckoned  with  their  hats 
in  derision  of  our  people  to  come  on  board  them  ;  which 
they  only  answered  with  cheerful  huzzas  and  told  them 
it  would  soon  be  their  turn."  ^ 

1  Mr.  Hughson,  whose  graphic  story  of  this  battle  between  the  South 
Carolinians  and  the  pirates  we  have  taken  almost  verbatim^  says,  in  a  note, 


602  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Both  sides  were  confident ;  but  the  pirates,  who  enjoyed 
such  an  advantage  at  the  beginning  of  the  conflict,  had 
a  great  disappointment  in  store  for  them.  The  issue  of 
the  battle  now  depended  on  the  tide  ;  victory  would  with- 
out doubt  be  with  the  party  whose  vessel  was  first  afloat. 
For  five  hours  the  flood  poured  up  the  river,  and  it  was 
late  in  the  day  before  it  was  high  enough  to  lift  the  ves- 
sels from  their  stranded  positions.  The  pirates  under- 
stood the  situation  fully,  and  one  can  imagine  the  con- 
sternation which  seized  upon  the  crew  of  the  Royal  James 
when  they  saw  the  Henry  slowly  righting  herself  as  the 
rising  flood  swept  higher  and  higher  around  her  bows. 
Many  of  the  crew  declared  for  immediate  surrender,  but 
Bonnet  refused  to  listen  to  such  counsel.  Under  the 
stress  of  excitement,  the  courage  which  failed  him  so 
ignominiously  at  the  last  was  roused  to  a  desperate 
pitch.  He  swore,  according  to  the  testimony  of  one  of 
his  party  who  turned  State's  evidence,  he  would  fire  the 
ship's  magazine  and  send  the  entire  crew  to  the  bottom 
before  he  would  submit ;  and,  drawing  his  pistols,  he 
threatened  to  scatter  the  deck  with  the  brains  of  any 
man  who  would  not  resist  to  the  last  should  Rhett 
attempt  to  come  on  board.  Bonnet's  courageous  con- 
duct did  not  avail,  however.  There  were  spirits  in  her 
crew   as   determined   as   he,   who  preferred  to  take   the 

that  his  account  is  taken  from  a  pamphlet  written  from  Charles  Town, 
and  published  in  London  in  1719,  entitled  Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet 
and  Other  Pirates.  The  account  of  these  trials  given  by  Howell  (State 
Trials,  vol.  XV,  1231),  he  observes,  is  evidently  taken  from  this  pamphlet. 
Mr.  Hughson  states  that  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Daniel  Ravenel  of 
Charleston  he  had  been  enabled  to  make  full  extracts  from  this  rare  pub- 
lication. Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Daniel  Ravenel,  son  of  the  former, 
the  author  of  this  work  has  been  enabled  also  to  peruse  this  valuable 
pamphlet,  and  thus  to  verify  Mr.  Hughson's  admirable  account  of  the 
battle,  which  he  has  adopted. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  603 

chances  of  a  trial  or  a  pardon  rather  than  to  brave  the 
death  a  further  resistance  would  immediately  incur,  and 
surrender  was  determined  upon. 

Wliile  the  pirates  were  angrily  debating  the  course  they 
should  pursue,  Rhett  set  his  crew  to  work  and  tempo- 
rarily repaired  the  damage  sustained  by  the  rigging ; 
and,  assuring  himself  that  the  hull  of  the  Henry  was 
intact,  lie  stood  for  the  Royal  James  with  the  intention 
of  boarding  her  promptly  if  this  should  be  necessary  to 
force  a  surrender.  At  this  juncture,  however,  a  flag  of 
truce  was  received,  and,  after  a  few  minutes  of  parley, 
the  Royal  James  surrendered  unconditionally.  On  board- 
ing her,  Rhett,  who  had  not  known  who  was  the  pirate 
chief,  was  surprised  to  learn  that  his  captive  —  Captain 
Thomas,  as  he  was  styled — was  none  other  than  the 
notorious  Stede  Bonnet,  whose  name  was  now  known 
along  the  coast  of  every  colony  from  Jamaica  to  New- 
foundland. 

As  the  Henry  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  her  loss 
was  far  greater  than  that  of  her  companion  sloop.  She 
had  ten  killed  and  fourteen  wounded,  several  of  whom 
died  afterwards  of  their  injuries.  The  Sea  Nymph  had 
two  killed  and  fourteen  wounded.  Several  of  the 
wounded  of  this  vessel  also  died  subsequently,  for 
Judge  Trott,  in  passing  sentence  upon  Bonnet,  stated 
that  eighteen  South  Carolinians  had  lost  their  lives  in 
this  expedition.  The  pirates,  in  consequence  of  their 
sheltered  position,  suffered  much  less  severely.  Seven  of 
the  crew  were  killed  and  four  wounded,  two  of  whom 
died  soon  afterwards.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Rhett 
was  shot  through  the  body,  but  circumstances  do  not 
countenance  the  story. ^ 

When  the  struggle  of  the  27th  was  at  an  end  and 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  285,  note. 


604  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Rhett  examined  his  little  fleet,  he  found  that  it  had 
been  much  injured  by  the  pirate  guns,  and  would  require 
considerable  repair  before  it  could  be  trusted  to  stand 
the  return  voyage  down  the  coast  to  Charles  Town.  He 
accordingly  remained  at  Cape  Fear  for  three  days,  and 
on  September  30,  with  the  Fortune  and  the  Francis^  which 
had  been  taken  by  Bonnet,  and  the  pirate  sloop  as  prizes, 
sailed  for  Charles  Town,  where  he  arrived  on  October  3, 
"  to  the  great  joy  of  the  whole  province." 

Two  days  later  Bonnet  and  his  crew  of  over  thirty  men 
were  landed  and  delivered  into  the  custody  of  Captain 
Nathaniel  Partridge,  the  Provost  Marshal  of  the  province. 
There  was  no  prison  in  the  province,  —  Governor  Johnson, 
it  will  be  remembered,  had  called  attention  to  this  want, 
—  there  was  only  a  watch-house,  which  stood  where  the 
old  postoffice  now  stands.  All  of  the  pirates  but  Bonnet 
were  placed  in  this  guard-house  with  a  military  guard 
posted  over  them.  The  authorities  agreed  to  permit 
Bonnet  to  remain  in  the  custody  of  the  Marshal  at  the 
latter's  residence,  two  sentinels  being  placed  on  guard  at 
the  Marshal's  house  every  evening  at  sunset.  A  few 
days  later  David  Herriot,  the  sailing-master,  and  Igna- 
tius Pell,  the  boatswain,  who  had  agreed  to  become 
evidence  for  the  Crown,  were  also  removed  to  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Marshal.  1 

1  Preface  to  Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  etc.  (pamphlet). 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

1718-19 

Upon  the  capture  of  the  pirates  De  Cossey  and  others 
the  3^ear  before,  Governor  Daniel  and  his  Council  had  pro- 
ceeded under  the  act  of  1712,  which  had  made  of  force  in 
this  province  the  statute  of  Henry  VIII.  It  appears  to 
have  been  deemed  advisable,  however,  before  proceeding 
to  the  trial  of  Bonnet  and  his  crew,  to  revise  that  act,  and 
the  Assembly  must  have  been  called  together  for  the 
special  purpose,  for  the  act  adopted  the  17th  of  October, 
1718,  was  the  only  one  enacted  at  that  time.  There  are 
no  existing  journals  of  this  year,  however,  to  show  that 
this  was  positively  so.  The  title  of  the  act  indicates  that 
it  was  passed  to  meet  an  immediate  emergency.  Its  title 
is  ^^An  act  for  the  more  speedy  and  Regular  Trial  of 
Pirates.'''^  It  provided  that  a  commission,  in  the  name  of 
the  Palatine  and  the  rest  of  the  true  and  absolute  Lords 
Proprietors  of  the  province,  should  be  directed  to  the 
judge  or  judges  of  admiralty  of  the  province  and  to  such 
other  substantial  persons  as  the  Governor,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Council,  should  appoint,  four  of  whom 
should  constitute  a  quorum,  who  should  have  power  to 
inquire  of  piratical  offences,  and  upon  the  oaths  of  twelve 
men  to  put  the  offenders  upon  trial.  The  act  provided 
lists  of  persons,  out  of  which  lists  the  juries,  grand  and 
petit,  should  be  drawn. 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  41. 
605 


606  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

On  the  21st  of  October  Governor  Johnson  wrote  to 
the  Commissioners  of  Trade  giving  an  account  of  the 
appearance  of  the  pirates,  their  insolent  conduct,  and 
Colonel  Rhett's  successful  expedition  against  them.  He 
expressed  his  apprehensions  that  the  pirates,  who  infested 
the  coast  in  great  numbers,  would  be  much  irritated  at 
this  action  on  the  part  of  the  colony,  and  that  its  trade 
would  be  much  endangered.  He  asked,  therefore,  that  a 
vessel  should  be  sent  for  the  protection  of  the  commerce 
of  the  province.^ 

Governor  Johnson's  apprehensions  were  immediately 
realized.  Before  a  court  could  be  organized  under  the  act 
just  passed,  and  while  Bonnet  and  his  crew  were  wait- 
ing their  trial,  news  was  brought  that  another  noto- 
rious pirate,  one  Moody,  was  off  the  bar  with  a  vessel 
carrying  fifty  guns  and  200  men,  and  that  he  had  already 
taken  two  vessels  bound  from  New  England  to  Charles 
Town.  The  Governor,  on  the  receipt  of  this  intelligence, 
at  once  convened  his  Council.  He  represented  to  its 
members  the  danger  of  invasion  and  the  hopelessness  of 
expecting  aid  from  England.  No  assistance  had  come  in 
reply  to  his  letter  of  the  18th  of  June.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  impoverished  condition  of  the  province,  by  reason 
of  the  Indian  wars,  and  the  former  expedition  against 
the  pirates,  another  must  at  once  be  organized  and  fitted 
out  against  these  new-comers.  The  coast  of  Carolina 
must  be  cleared  for  her  commerce  at  her  own  expense. 
The  Council  approved  Governor  Johnson's  prompt  and 
decisive  action  and  unanimously  decided  to  equip  an 
armament  of  sufficient  weight  to  cope  with  Moody  and 
his  fifty  guns. 

There  were  nearly  a  score  of  trading  vessels  in  the 
harbor,  and  to  these  the  Governor  turned  for  aid.  The 
1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  237. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  60T 

captains  had,  however,  no  authority  to  volunteer  to  run 
the  vessels  belonging  to  others  into  so  great  danger,  and 
it  was  therefore  found  necessary  to  press  the  required 
ships  into  the  public  service.  Upon  an  inspection  of  the 
vessels  in  port,  the  Council  selected  the  Mediterranean^ 
Arthur  Loan,  master  ;  the  King  William^  John  Watkinson, 
master  ;  and  the  Sea  Nymph^  Fayrer  Hall,  master,  for  the 
perilous  expedition.  To  this  fleet  was  added  the  Royal 
James^  captured  from  Stede  Bonnet,  which  was  held  in 
Charles  Town  as  a  prize.  She  was  placed  in  command 
of  Captain  John  Masters,  former  master  of  the  Henry^ 
Rhett's  flagship  in  the  Cape  Fear  expedition.  Eight 
guns  were  mounted  between  her  decks,  and  the  old  pirate 
craft,  says  Hughson,  was  for  once  in  her  lifetime  fitted 
out  for  honest  work.  The  Mediterranean  was  mounted 
with  twenty-four  guns,  the  King  William  with  thirty, 
and  the  Sea  Nymph  with  six.  Having  secured  the  neces- 
sary fleet,  the  Council  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for 
volunteers  and  promising  them  all  the  booty  that  might 
be  taken. 

The  fleet  and  force  for  the  expedition  having  been  thus 
provided,  the  question  arose  as  to  the  command  of  it. 
All  eyes  were,  of  course,  turned  to  Rhett,  whose  naval 
experience  and  recent  success  rendered  him  at  once  the 
person  to  whose  lead  the  colonists  looked.  Richard 
Allein,  the  Attorney  General,  in  his  opening  address  to 
the  jury  in  the  first  trial,  declared  that  Colonel  William 
Rhett  was  the  chief,  if  not  the  first,  promoter  of  the  fit- 
ting out  of  the  expedition  which  had  captured  Bonnet 
and  his  party ;  ^  but  Rhett,  who  was  of  uncertain  and 
fiery  temper,  had  quarrelled  with  Johnson  in  consequence 
of  some  action  of  the  Governor  in  connection  with  that 
expedition,  and  he  now  held  back.  Governor  Johnson 
1  Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  etc.,  9. 


608  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

determined,  therefore,  to  take  command  himself  of  this 
enterprise  and  to  lead  the  fleet  against  the  pirates  in 
person  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  This  course 
of  the  Governor  infused  confidence,  and  in  a  few  days 
300  volunteers  were  on  board  the  vessels  awaiting  orders 
to  sail.  But  a  serious  delay  was  still  to  be  met.  The 
masters  of  the  impressed  vessels  made  no  objection  to 
giving  their  personal  services  to  the  colony,  but  their 
owners  were  to  be  considered,  and  they  now  entered  a 
formal  protest,  strongly  representing  that  some  security 
should  be  given  by  the  government  to  indemnify  them 
for  injury  or  capture  of  their  vessels  by  the  pirates. 
Hughson  states  that  Governor  Johnson  recognized  the 
justice  of  their  plea  and  immediately  convened  an  extra 
session  of  the  Assembly  and  laid  the  case  before  it,  and 
that  the  Assembly  without  delay  voted  a  bill  to  secure 
the  ship-owners  against  all  losses  and  expenses.^  No 
such  act  can,  however,  be  found ;  and  as  the  journals  of 
the  Assembly  for  this  year  are  missing,  no  record  of  it 
has  been  preserved.  However  settled,  these  proceedings 
delayed  the  expedition  for  about  a  week ;  but  in  the 
meantime  scout-boats  had  been  stationed  along  the  shore 
of  the  islands,  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  to  resist  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  to  land,  and  at  the  same 
time  an  embargo  was  laid  on  all  shipping. 

While  the  Governor  was  thus  busily  engaged  endeavor- 
ing to  organize  this  expedition,  the  captured  pirates,  it 
appears,  had  found  some  friends  in  the  town  who  had 
created  disturbances  under  cover  of  which  to  effect  their 
release,  and  that  Bonnet  and  Herriot  had  actually  escaped. ^ 

1  Hughson,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  V,  VI,  VII,  115. 

2  Mr.  Thomas  Hepworth,  who  assisted  the  Attorney  General  in  the 
prosecution,  refers  to  such  disturbances ;  but,  save  this  passing  remark, 
there  is  no  other  allusion  in  the  accounts  of  the  times  to  any  such  trouble. 
Tnjals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  11 ;  State  Trials,  vol.  XIV,  1248. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  609 

Ramsay  states  that  Bonnet  escaped  in  the  disguise  of  a 
woman's  clothing,  ^  which  would  have  been  no  matter  of 
surprise  considering  the  looseness  of  his  confinement. 
Pell,  the  boatswain,  refused  to  fly  with  Bonnet  and 
Herriot.     The  escape  was  made  on  the  25th  of  October. 

Governor  Johnson  immediately  issued  a  proclamation 
offering  a  reward  of  X700  for  the  capture  of  the  fugitive, 
sent  "hue  and  cry"  and  expresses  by  land  and  water 
throughout  the  whole  province,  and  dispatched  several 
boats  with  armed  men  in  pursuit.  Bonnet,  it  appears, 
had  effected  his  escape  in  a  canoe  with  an  Indian  and  a 
negro.  In  this  small  craft  he  put  to  sea,  in  the  hope, 
probably,  of  joining  Moody's  vessel,  of  the  presence  of 
which  off  the  bar  he  was  no  doubt  informed,  or  of  reach- 
ing again  the  Cape  Fear ;  but  it  happened  that  on  that 
day  the  pirate  vessel  supposed  to  have  been  Moody's  was 
far  away  —  indeed,  it  was  off  Cape  Henry,  engaged  in  the 
capture  of  the  ship  Eagle  Galley.^  Bonnet  was  entirely 
without  provisions,  the  weather  was  tempestuous,  and  he 
Avas  forced  to  return  to  Sullivan's  Island.  There  he  hid 
for  some  days. 

In  the  meanwhile,  amidst  the  excitement  and  confusion 
of  Bonnet's  escape,  and  of  the  preparation  of  the  expedi- 
tion against  the  other  pirates  on  the  coast,  the  court 
which  had  been  provided  for  by  the  act  of  the  18th  of 
October  met  and  organized  on  the  28th ;  and  while  the 
Governor  was  getting  ready  to  put  to  sea  against  Moody, 
as  he  supposed,  the  court  proceeded  to  the  trial  of  the  rest 
of  Bonnet's  crew.  Nicholas  Trott^  Judge  of  Vice  Ad- 
miralty and  Chief  Justice  of  the  province,  presided,  with 
George  Logan,  Alexander  Parris,  Philip  Dawes,  George 
Chicken,  Benjamin  de  La  Conseillere,  Samuel  Dean,  Ed- 

1  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  204,  note. 
'^  So.  Ca.  Adm.  Ct.  Bee.  Book,  A  and  B. 
2k 


610  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

ward  Brailsford,  John  Croft,  Captain  Arthur  Loan,  and 
Captain  John  Watkins  as  assistant  judges.  The  grand 
jury  was  formed,  with  Michael  Brewton  foreman. 

Judge  Trott  proceeded  to  charge  the  grand  jury  upon 
the  subject  of  piracy.  His  charge  was  a  most  learned 
one,  exhibiting  extensive  erudition,  quoting  from  many 
authors  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and,  though  it  would  be  re- 
garded to-day  as  pedantic,  was  a  most  able  exposition  of 
the  law  of  the  case.  He  first  traced  the  history  of  the 
constitution  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Admiralty 
from  the  earliest  time,  and  explained  the  design  and  effect 
of  the  act  28  Henry  VIII,  whereby  pirates  were  thereafter 
to  be  tried  according  to  the  course  of  the  common  law, 
and  defined  and  expounded  the  law  of  piracy,  as  modified 
by  that  statute,  adopted  in  the  province  in  1712,  under 
which  the  accused  were  to  be  tried. ^  An  indictment  was 
given  out  against  Stede  Bonnet  and  several  others  of  his 
company,  and  the  court  adjourned.  The  next  day  other 
indictments  were  given  out,  and  true  bills  found.  On  the 
30th  a  petit  jury  was  organized,  and  the  case  proceeded ; 
in  the  absence  of  Bonnet,  Robert  Tucker  and  others  were 
brought  to  the  bar  and  put  upon  their  trial.  Richard 
Allein,  the  Attorney  General,  rehearsed  the  recent  deeds 
of  the  pirates.  He  was  sorry,  he  said,  to  hear  some  ex- 
pressions drop  from  private  persons  (he  hoped  there  were 
none  of  them  upon  the  jury)  in  favor  of  the  pirates,  and 
particularly  of  Bonnet ;  '*  that  he  is  a  gentleman  and  a  man 
of  honor,  a  man  of  fortune,  and  one  that  has  had  a  liberal 
education.     Alas,  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  all  these  quali- 

1  This  charge  is  quoted  at  some  length  by  a  learned  writer,  Philliinore, 
of  the  College  of  Advocates,  in  his  Commentaries  upon  International  Law, 
as  coiTectly  defining  the  law  of  piracy  ;  and  a  list  of  the  autliorities  cited 
by  Trott  is  given  in  a  note  to  his  work.  Phillimore's  International 
Law,  CCCLVI.    Law  Library  ed.,  286. 


tJNDER   THE  PROl^RtETAtlY  GOVERNMENT  611 

fications  are  but  several  aggravations  of  his  crimes,"  etc. 
He  had  in  his  hand,  he  stated,  an  account  of  above  thirty- 
eight  vessels  taken  by  Bonnet,  in  company  with  Thatch, 
in  the  West  Indies  since  the  5th  of  April  before.  The 
Attorney  General  was  followed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hepworth, 
to  whose  address  to  the  jury  reference  has  already  been 
made.  Then  Ignatius  Pell,  who  had  refused  to  fly  with 
Bonnet  and  had  turned  State's  evidence,  was  put  on  the 
stand,  and  upon  his  testimony,  and  that  of  the  captains  of 
the  vessels  that  had  been  captured  by  Bonnet,  Tucker  and 
four  others  were  found  guilty.  The  court  proceeded  from 
day  to  day  with  the  trial  of  others.  The  conviction  of 
seventeen  others  rapidly  followed ;  four  were  acquitted. 

The  accused  had  no  counsel ;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose,  as  has  been  asserted,  that  this  was  because  of  the 
provision  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  declaring  it 
"  a  base  and  vile  thing  to  plead  for  money  or  reward,"  and 
that  hence  the  members  of  the  bar  of  the  colony  were 
unwilling  to  undertake  the  cause  of  the  accused,  for  which 
they  could  receive  no  remuneration. ^  That  provision  was 
never  of  any  more  force  in  the  colony  than  any  other  of 
that  extraordinary  body  of  laws.  Thfe  simpler  explana- 
tion of  the  absence  of  counsel  is  that  under  the  law  of 
England  then,  and  for  more  than  a  century  after,  crimi- 
nals were  not  allowed  counsel  in  any  case  except  of  trea- 
son. It  was  not  until  1836,  as  we  have  already  said,  that 
counsel  was  so  allowed  in  England.  Piracy,  it  is  true, 
was  held  to  be  in  the  nature  of  treason  ;  but  these  pirates 
were  indicted  for  felony  under  the  statute  of  Henry  VIII, 
and  so  were  not  entitled  to  counsel  under  the  exception 
in  regard  to  trials  for  treason. 

Governor  Johnson  was  nearly  ready  to  embark  with  his 
fleet  when  information  was  brought  him  that  Bonnet  was 

1  Hughson,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  2  series,  V,  VI,  VII,  106. 


61^  HISTOKY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

hiding  on  Sullivan's  Island,  and  though  Colonel  Rhett 
would  not  take  part  in  the  expedition  against  the  pirates 
at  sea,  he  readily  accepted  a  commission  to  effect  the 
recapture  of  Bonnet.  The  Governor  sailed  with  the 
fleet  on  the  4th  of  November,  and  Rhett  went  that  night 
to  Sullivan's  Island.  He  searched  diligently  for  a  long 
time  in  the  sand  hills  among  the  dense  myrtle  and  cedar, 
which  afforded  so  many  hiding-places,  before  he  found  the 
fugitives.  But  at  the  last  he  did  so,  when  some  of  his 
party  fired.  Herriot  fell  dead  ;  the  negro  and  the  Indian 
were  wounded.  Bonnet  submitted  and  surrendered  him- 
self, and  the  next  morning,  being  the  6th  of  November, 
Colonel  Rhett  brought  him  to  the  town. 

Several  days  before  the  Governor's  fleet  was  ready  for 
sea,  the  boats  off  Sullivan's  Island  sighted  a  ship  and  a 
sloop  which,  coming  up  to  the  bar,  dropped  anchor  and 
attempted  to  land.  They  were  prevented  by  the  guards, 
however,  who  made  a  hostile  demonstration  on  their  ap- 
proach, and  for  three  days  the  two  strange  craft  lay 
quietly  at  their  moorings,  making  no  movement  calcu- 
lated to  arouse  further  suspicions. 

Late  on  the  evening  of  November  4,  the  Governor's 
fleet  sailed  down  the  harbor  and  anchored  several  hun- 
dred yards  below  Fort  Johnson,  which  commanded  the 
main  entrance  to  the  port.  Orders  had  been  issued  for 
every  movement  to  be  made  with  the  least  demonstration 
possible,  and  the  vessels  reached  their  anchorage  without 
being  detected  by  the  pirates,  who  had  again  returned  to 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  The  Governor's  fleet  lay  quiet 
all  night,  and  as  the  gray  mist  of  early  morning  crept 
slowly  over  the  ocean,  Governor  Johnson,  from  the  deck 
of  his  flagship,  the  Mediterranean^  signalled  his  consorts 
to  weigh  anchor  and  follow  him.  The  commander  of 
each  vessel  had  been  carefully  instructed  before  the  fleet 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  613 

had  left  the  town.  No  warlike  display  was  to  be  made 
until  the  final  moment ;  and  the  four  vessels  now  steered 
in  the  direction  of  the  pirate  fleet  with  the  guns  all  under 
cover,  and  the  men  below  decks.  By  eight  o'clock  they 
were  close  to  the  enemy.  The  deception  was  complete. 
Mistaking  them  for  merchantmen,  the  pirate  ship  promptly 
weighed  anchor,  and  stood  on  toward  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor  to  intercept  the  retreat  which  they  were  certain 
would  be  attempted.  Having  placed  themselves  between 
the  South  Carolinians  and  the  harbor,  they  now  hoisted 
the  black  flag,  and  called  on  the  King  William  to  sur- 
render. At  this  moment  Johnson  ran  the  King's  colors 
to  the  masthead  of  the  Mediterranean^  threw  open  his 
ports,  and  delivered  a  broadside  which  swept  the  decks 
of  the  nearest  vessel  with  murderous  effect.  Before  the 
pirates  had  recovered  from  the  consternation  into  which 
they  were  thrown  by  this  action,  the  South  Carolinians 
bore  down  upon  them  and  began  the  battle  in  desperate 
earnest,  and  at  the  closest  possible  quarters.  The  hatches 
were  thrown  open,  the  men  rushed  from  below  the  decks 
heavily  armed,  while  the  sixty-eight  guns  of  the  combined 
fleet  poured  broadside  after  broadside  into  the  pirates,  who 
were  now  hemmed  in  between  the  shore  and  Governor 
Johnson's  vessels.  By  skilful  management,  however,  the 
pirate  ship  escaped  from  her  precarious  position,  and  made 
all  sail  possible  in  order  to  elude  the  desperate  chase  of 
the  South  Carolinians.  Johnson  signalled  the  Sea  Nymph 
and  the  Royal  James,  or  the  Revenge,  as  she  was  now  called, 
to  look  to  the  sloop,  while  he,  in  company  with  the  Kitig 
William,  made  hot  pursuit  after  the  ship,  which  seemed  to 
have  every  chance  of  escape. 

The  pirate  sloop,  which  carried  six  guns  and  forty  men, 
unable  to  reach  the  open  sea,  was  now  vigorously  attacked 
by  Hall  and  Masters.     The  pirates  defended  themselves 


614  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

with  a  valor  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  for  four  hours, 
with  the  vessels  almost  yard-arm  to  yard-arm,  they  main- 
tained a  struggle  as  fierce  as  any  ever  known  in  these 
waters  which  have  so  often  been  stirred  by  hostile  forces. 
Finally  they  were  forced  to  abandon  their  guns,  and  many 
sought  shelter  in  the  hold  from  the  terrible  fire  which  was 
sweeping  the  vessel  from  stem  to  stern.  A  few  moments 
later  the  South  Carolinians  boarded  her,  despite  the  des- 
perate resistance  made  by  the  captain  and  the  men  who 
remained  to  meet  them.  Reaching  the  decks,  the  attack- 
ing party  made  quick  work  of  the  pirates,  although  the 
latter  defended  themselves  with  the  desperation  of  men 
who  realized  that  they  had  but  one  chance  left  to  them 
for  life.  In  a  short  time  every  man  above  decks,  includ- 
ing the  chief,  who  fought  to  the  death  with  the  fury  of  a 
lion,  was  either  killed  or  disabled,  and  the  boarding  party 
found  itself  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  vessel.  The 
men  who  had  fled  into  the  hold  surrendered  without 
another  blow,  and  a  few  hours  later  the  sloop,  with  her 
surviving  crew  in  irons,  was  carried  into  Charles  Town 
in  triumph.  The  struggle,  says  Hughson,  which  took 
place  almost  within  sight  of  the  town,  created  the  most 
tremendous  excitement  among  the  inhabitants,  which 
arose  to  a  pitch  of  almost  indescribable  exultation  as 
the  throng  along  the  wharves  saw  the  Sea  Nymph  and 
the  Revenge  rounding  the  harbor,  the  royal  ensign  at  the 
masthead  signalling  their  victory. 

Governor  Johnson,  while  not  forced  to  such  desperate 
fighting  as  his  subordinates  of  the  Revenge  and  the  Sea 
Nymph^  had  a  long,  hard  chase  after  the  fleeing  ship,  and 
did  not  come  up  with  her  until  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon. During  the  pursuit  the  pirate  abandoned  the 
defence  and  bent  every  energy  to  effect  his  escape.  He 
lightened  the  ship  in  every  possible  way,  and  even  threw 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  615 

over  the  guns  and  the  boats,  but  all  to  no  avail.  The 
South  Carolinians  had  the  fastest  sailers,  and  as  soon  as 
they  came  within  range  Governor  Johnson  ordered  the 
King  William  to  open  fire.  The  first  discharge  raked 
the  sloop,  killing  two  of  the  crew,  and  ''having  received 
a  shot  between  wind  and  water,"  the  pirates  hauled  down 
the  black  flag  and  made  an  unconditional  surrender. 

When  the  hatches  were  opened,  to  the  great  surprise 
of  the  captors,  it  was  discovered  that  the  hold  of  the  ship 
was  crowded  with  women ;  and  upon  in  vestigation  the 
vessel  proved  to  be  the  Eagle^  bound  from  London  to 
Virginia  and  Maryland  with  106  convicts  and  "covenant 
servants,"  —  whom  it  was  designed  to  settle  in  those  colo- 
nies,— thirty-six  of  whom  were  women.  The  Eagle  had 
been  captured  by  the  pirate  sloop,  which  was  known  as 
the  New  York  Revenge^  near  Cape  Henry,  and  converted 
into  a  tender.  Six  guns  had  been  placed  in  her,  and  her 
name  was  changed  to  the  New  York  Revenge^  and  John 
Cole  had  been  given  the  command.  A  large  number  of 
the  crew  and  of  the  convicts  allied  themselves  to  the 
pirates,  while  those  who  refused  to  join  them  were  held 
as  prisoners. 

A  still  more  serious  surprise,  continues  the  author  from 
whom  this  account  of  the  expedition  is  taken,  awaited  the 
Governor,  however,  on  his  return  to  Charles  Town  to  look 
after  the  issue  of  the  conflict  between  the  sloop  and  the 
rest  of  his  fleet.  It  was  ascertained  that  the  captured 
vessels  did  not  belong  to  Moody  at  all,  nor  did  the  cap- 
tive crews  have  any  connection  whatever  with  him.  The 
commander,  who  had  been  killed  on  board  the  sloop, 
proved  to  be  another  still  more  famous  pirate,  one  Richard 
Worley,  who  had  terrorized  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  but  a  few  weeks  previous. 
Governor  Johnson  was  naturally  much  gratified  at  having 


616  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

exterminated  so  dangerous  a  company  of  villains,  but  the 
question  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  Moody  was  still  one  of 
vital  interest  to  the  colony.  The  statements  of  the  pris- 
oners were  certainly  not  above  suspicion,  and  no  one 
could  say  positively  that  Worley's  crew  was  not  a  part  of 
Moody's  company.  It  was  altogether  possible,  if  not 
probable,  that  Moody  was  hovering  within  the  headlands 
of  one  of  the  neighboring  harbors,  and  would,  if  in  his 
power,  wreak  a  cruel  revenge  on  the  colony  for  the  capt- 
ure and  slaughter  of  his  comrades. 

To  guard  against  the  possibility  of  a  sudden  descent 
on  the  port,  Johnson  determined  to  maintain  his  fleet  in 
a  state  of  thorough  organization  until  he  was  satisfied 
that  all  danger  was  past.  A  few  days  afterwards  the 
public  anxiety  was  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  the  Minerva^ 
Captain  Smyter,  from  the  Madeira  Isles,  who  reported 
that  he  had  been  taken  off  the  bar  by  Moody,  who,  about 
the  same  time,  received  information  of  the  preparations 
which  were  being  made  in  Charles  Town  to  capture  him. 
He  had  accordingly  taken  the  Minerva  about  a  hundred 
leagues  out  to  sea,  where  he  had  plundered  her,  after 
which  he  set  sail  for  New  Providence,  in  order  to  avail 
himself  of  the  King's  proclamation,  which  had  been 
brought  out  by  Governor  Woodes  Rogers. 

It  was  a  time  of  the  greatest  excitement.  Stirring  and 
startling  events  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession. 
Governor  Johnson  had  sailed  with  his  fleet  on  the  evening 
of  the  4th  of  November.  The  next  day,  the  5th,  while  the 
Governor  was  engaged  in  battle  off  the  bar  with  Worley, 
Rhett  had  recaptured  Bonnet  on  Sullivan's  Island,  while, 
on  the  same  day,  the  trial  of  Bonnet's  crew  was  brought 
to  a  close,  and  twenty-two  of  them  sentenced  to  death. 
Bonnet  was  brought  to  town  on  the  6th.  Two  days  after, 
the  8th,  the  twenty-two  convicted  were  executed,  and,  on 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  617 

the  lOtli,  Bonnet  himself  was  arraigned  on  two  indict- 
ments. One  of  them  charged  him  with  piracy  in  taking 
the  sloop  Francis^  Captain  Manwaering,  and  the  other  with 
piracy  in  taking  the  sloop  Fortune^  Captain  Read.^ 

Mr.  Hepworth  opened  the  case  for  the  prosecution,  and 
Ignatius  Pell,  Bonnet's  boatswain,  was  put  on  the  stand. 
Pell  appears  to  have  had  some  affection  for  Bonnet,  and 
to  have  testified  reluctantly  against  his  master ;  but,  as 
his  own  life  was  at  stake,  he  could  not  shield  him.  By 
the  theory  of  the  English  law,  counsel  was  not  necessary 
for  the  defence,  as  it  was  the  duty  of  the  judge  to  see 
that  the  accused  had  a  fair  trial,  and  to  take  care  of  his 
interests  ;  but  that  was  but  a  poor  protection  under  such 
a  judge  as  Trott,  whose  tyrannical  conduct  on  the  bench 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  fast  approaching  overthrow 
of  the  Proprietors. 

There  could  be  no  doubt  of  Bonnet's  guilt,  but  his 
calm  and  dignified  bearing  at  the  trial  elicits,  even  at  this 
day,  some  sympathy  for  him,  and  provokes  resentment 
against  Trott's  overbearing  conduct.  The  Chief  Justice 
availed  himself  of  the  practice  of  the  times  to  interrogate 
the  accused  as  well  as  the  witnesses,  and  thus  to  expose 
the  weak  points  in  his  case.^  Bonnet  met  the  judge's 
interrogations  with  self-possession,  and,  when  he  could 
not  offer  an  explanation,  was  silent.  His  defence  was 
that  he  had  honestly  intended  to  proceed  to  St.  Thomas, 
but  had  been  overpowered  by  his  crew  and  forced  to  con- 
tinue in  his  piratical  course.  The  plea  was  a  weak  one, 
and  easily  disposed  of  by  the  judge  ;  but,  not  content  to 
do  so,  Trott  did  not  hesitate  to  bring  into  Bonnet's  case 

1  Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  37. 

2  This  practice  was  abolished,  and  prisoners  exempted  from  interroga- 
tion by  the  judge,  at  the  same  time  as  they  were  allowed  counsel  on  their 
trial. — Encyclopedia  Britannica,  "Criminal  Law,"  Edmund  Robertson. 


618  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

the  testimony  taken  in  the  former  trials,  at  which  Bonnet 
had  not  been  present,  and  upon  such  inadmissible  testi- 
mony to  declare  the  charges  proved  against  him.  He 
Avas  convicted  on  the  first  indictment  that  day.  Upon  his 
arraignment  the  next,  on  the  second  indictment,  he  with- 
drew his  plea  of  not  guilty.  On  the  third  day,  the  12th, 
he  was  sentenced  to  death. 

In  sentencing  Bonnet,  Trott  delivered  one  of  his  re- 
markable charges  abounding  with  quotations  from  the 
Scriptures,  with  which  this  remarkable  man  showed  him- 
self as  familiar  as  he  was  with  the  civil  and  common 
law. 

"  You  being  a  Gentleman  that  have  had  the  advantage  of  liberal 
education  and  being  generally  esteemed  a  man  of  Letters  I  believe  it 
will  be  needless  for  me  to  explain  to  you  the  nature  of  Repentance  and 
Faith  in  Christ  they  being  so  fully  and  so  often  explained  in  the 
Scriptures  that  you  cannot  but  know  them.  And  therefore  perhaps 
for  that  reason  it  might  be  thought  by  some  improper  for  me  to  have 
said  so  much  to  you  as  I  have  already  upon  this  occasion ;  neither 
should  I  have  done  it,  but  that  considering  the  course  of  your  life  and 
actions,  I  have  just  reason  to  fear  that  the  Principles  of  Religion  that 
had  been  instilled  into  you  by  your  Education  have  been  at  least  cor- 
rupted if  not  entirely  defaced  by  the  Scepiism  and  Infidelity  of  this 
wicked  age ;  and  that  what  Time  you  allowed  for  Study  was  rather 
applied  to  Polite  Literature;  and  the  vain  Philosophy  of  the  Times 
than  to  a  serious  Search  after  the  Law  and  Will  of  God,  as  revealed 
to  us  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  had  your  Delight  been  in  the  Law  of 
the  Lord,  and  that  you  had  meditated  therein  Day  and  Night  Psal  1-2 
you  would  then  have  found  that  Gods  Word  was  a  Lamp  unto  your 
Feet,  and  a  Light  to  your  Path  Psal:  119-105,  and  that  you  would 
account  all  other  knowledge  but  Loss  in  comparison  of  the  Excellency 
of  the  Knoivledge  of  Christ  Jesus  Phil  3-8  who  to  them  that  are  called  is 
the  Power  of  God  and  the  Wisdom  of  God  1  Cor:  1.  24.  even  as  the  hid- 
den Wisdom  which  God  ordained  before  the  World.  Chap :  2-7."  ^ 

And  more,  much  more,  to  the  same  effect. 

1  Tryals  of  Major  Stede  Bonnet,  44 ;  Howell's  State  Trials,  vol.  XV, 
1234-1302. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  619 

Bonnet  had,  under  the  circumstances,  borne  up  bravely 
enough  during  his  trial ;  but  upon  his  sentence  his  courage 
and  resolution  failed,  and  the  most  abject  and  pusillani- 
mous appeals  for  mercy  were  made  by  him  both  to  the 
Governor  and  to  Colonel  Rhett,  his  captor.  To  Colonel 
Rhett  he  wrote,  imploring  his  intercession,  insisting 
before  "God,  the  knower  of  all  secrets,"  that  he  was 
himself  but  a  prisoner  when  he  lay  with  Thatch  off 
Charles  Town  bar ;  that  he  had  been  coerced  in  his 
course;  that  he  had  hailed  with  joy  his  capture  by 
Rhett,  as  affording  him  an  opportunity  of  disengaging 
himself  from  the  wicked  people  with  whom  he  had  been 
associated.^  To  Governor  Johnson  he  addressed  the  most 
piteous  and  extraordinary  appeal.  Throwing  himself  at 
the  Governor's  feet,  he  implored  him  "  to  look  upon  him 
with  tender  bowells  of  pity  and  compassion,"  and  to 
believe  him  the  most  miserable  man  that  day  breathing. 
"  That  the  tears  proceeding  from  my  most  sorrowful  soul 
may  soften  your  heart  and  incline  you  to  consider  my 
dismal  state  wholly,  I  must  confess,  unprepared  to  receive 
so  soon  the  dreadful  execution  you  have  been  pleased  to 
appoint  me;  and  therefore  beseech  you  to  think  me  an 
object  of  your  mercy."  In  his  abject  misery  he  begged 
for  life,  for  life  only,  on  any  terms. 

"  I  heartily  beseech  you'll  permit  me  to  live,"  he  wrote  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, "  and  I'll  voluntarily  put  it  ever  out  of  my  Power  by  separating 
all  my  Limbs  from  my  Body,  only  reserving  the  use  of  my  Tongue  to 
call  continually  on,  and  pray  to  the  Lord,  my  God  and  mourn  all  my 
Days  in  Sackcloth  and  Ashes  to  work  out  Confident  hopes  of  my  Sal- 
vation, at  that  great  and  dreadful  Day  when  all  righteous  Souls  shall 
receive  their  just  rewards.  And  to  render  your  Honour  a  further 
Assurance  of  my  being  incapable  to  prejudice  any  of  my  Fellow  Chris- 
tians, if  I  was  so  wickedly  bent  I  humbly  beg  you  will  (as  a  Punish- 
ment of  my  Sins  for  my  poor  Soul's  Sake)  indent  me  as  a  menial  Ser- 

1  Letter  in  note,  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  204. 


620  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

vant  to  your  Honour,  and  this  Government  during  my  Life,  and  send 
me  up  to  the  fartherest  inland  Garrison  or  Settlement  in  the  Country 
or  in  any  other  ways  you'll  be  pleased  to  dispose  of  me." 

Like  Trott,  he  showed  himself  familiar  with  Holy  Writ, 
and  concluded  his  appeal  in  the  words  of  Paul  the  Apostle 
to  the  Hebrews. 

"Now  the  God  of  Peace  that  brought  again  from  the  Dead  our 
Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  Sheep,  thro'  the  Blood  of  the 
everlasting  Covenant  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  Work  to  do  his 
Will,  working  in  you,  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  Sight  through 
Jesus  Christ  to  whom  be  Glory  for  ever  and  ever  is  the  hearty  Prayer  of 
"  Your  Honour's  Most  miserable  and  Afflicted  servant 

"Stede  Bonnet."  1 

It  was  indeed  a  remarkable  incident,  that  of  the  famil- 
iarity thus  shown  with  the  sacred  Scriptures  on  the  part 
alike  of  a  corrupt  judge  and  of  a  bloody  pirate.  Despite 
the  desperate  character  of  the  culprit,  so  pitiful  was  his 
behavior  that  the  sympathies  of  the  public  were  greatly 
aroused  in  his  behalf,  and  much  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  on  Governor  Johnson  to  induce  him  to  grant  either 
a  pardon  or  a  commutation  of  his  sentence.  Bonnet  him- 
self was  desirous  of  being  carried  to  England,  so  as  to 
have  his  case  brought  directly  to  the  attention  of  the  King. 
His  appeal  to  Colonel  Rhett  so  excited  that  gentleman's 
interest  in  his  behalf,  that  he  is  said  to  have  offered  to 
carry  him,  and  ample  security  was  also  tendered  for  his 
safe  delivery  to  the  home  authorities.  But  Governor 
Johnson  knew  what  the  province  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  pirates,  and  he  would'  listen  to  no  proposi- 
tion, nor  parley  with  them  or  their  friends.  He  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  movement  to  procure  a  stay  of  Bon- 
net's execution,  and  was  unswerving  in  his  determination 
that  he  should  die  in  accordance  with  the  sentence  of  the 

1  Hughson,  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  2  series,  V,  VI,  VII,  110. 


tJNtoER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  621 

court.  It  remained  with  the  Governor  to  fix  the  day  of 
the  execution.  He  appointed  Wednesday,  the  10th  of 
December,  as  the  fatal  day,  and  Bonnet  was  accordingly 
executed.  It  is  said  that  he  was  so  unnerved  "that  he 
was  scarce  sensible  when  he  came  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution."^ 

In  the  meanwhile  the  court  was  again  convened,  and 
twenty-three  of  those  captured  by  Governor  Johnson's 
expedition  were  also  convicted,  and  on  the  24th  of 
November  were  sentenced  to  death.  They  were  exe- 
cuted, but  the  day  upon  which  their  execution  took 
place  is  not  certainly  known. 

The  nest  of  pirates  which  had  been  established  in 
Cape  Fear  was  now  thoroughly  broken  up.  Thatch,  or 
"Black  Beard,"  had  been  killed  and  his  crew  captured 
by  the  expedition  fitted  out  by  Governor  Spotswood  of 
Virginia ;  Bonnet  had  been  captured  by  Rhett  and  exe- 
cuted ;  and  Worley  had  been  slain  in  the  battle  with 
Governor  Johnson.  Without  disparagement  to  the  con- 
duct of  Governor  Spotswood,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that 
however  prompt  and  vigorous  his  action,  the  expedition 
which  he  sent  had  the  advantage  of  being  commanded  by 
officers  of  the  Royal  Navy,  whereas  those  of  Governor 
Johnson  were  led  by  Colonel  Rhett  and  himself  in  person. 
The  South  Carolinians  had  arisen  against  the  pirates  as 
they  had  done  against  the  Indians,  and,  without  waiting 
for  the  help  they  had  asked,  had  themselves  without 
assistance  organized  and  conducted  two  brilliant  and  suc- 
cessful expeditions.  They  had  so  far  been  victorious,  and 
opened  the  harbor  of  Charles  Town  to  their  commerce. 
But  the  danger  was  by  no  means  past.  The  sea  was  yet 
covered  with  pirate  craft,  manned  by  as  desperate  outlaws 
as  any  of  those  who  had  paid  the  penalty  of  their  crimes 

1  Huglison,  supra. 


622  HISTORY   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

at  White  Point.  Every  month  brought  intelligence  of 
renewed  outrages,  of  vessels  sacked  on  the  high  seas, 
burned  Avith  their  cargo,  or  seized  and  converted  to  the 
nefarious  uses  of  the  outlaws. 

Governor  Johnson,  says  Hughson,  was  no  dreamer,  and 
he  did  not  lull  himself  into  any  fancied  security  because 
of  the  success  of  the  plots  of  the  daring  Rliett  and  him- 
self. The  province  itself  was  scarcely  able  to  do  any- 
thing more.  The  cost  of  the  two  naval  expeditions  had 
further  exhausted  the  already  depleted  treasury,  and  as 
yet  the  English  authorities  had  given  no  indication  of 
their  intention  to  do  anything  to  assist  their  hard-pressed 
fellow-countrymen  in  the  distant  colony. 

But  Governor  Johnson  did  not  despair,  though  he  did 
not  encourage  the  thought  of  expecting  any  assistance 
from  abroad.  On  the  contrary,  he  insisted  that  the  people 
should  help  themselves ;  and  in  February,  1719,  the  As- 
sembly passed  an  act  providing  sufficient  funds  to  pay  the 
debts  incurred  by  the  equipment  of  the  two  expeditions. 
In  the  meantime  the  Governor  had  forwarded  another 
letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  in  which  he  gave  a  full 
account  of  the  recent  occurrences,  narrating  how  his  fears 
had  been  realized,  and  urging  that  a  ship  of  war  should 
be  sent  to  South  Carolina  immediately,  unless  their  Lord- 
ships were  willing  to  see  the  trade  completely  ruined. 
In  this  communication  the  Governor  expressed  himself 
with  great  earnestness,  claiming  for  the  colony  some  con- 
sideration at  the  hands  of  the  board,  and  reminding  it 
that  during  the  previous  year  the  province  had  supplied, 
for  the  use  of  his  Majesty's  navy,  32,000  barrels  of  tar, 
20,643  barrels  of  pitch,  and  473  barrels  of  turpentine.  In 
a  letter  written  the  following  December,  after  he  had 
been  deposed  by  the  people  in  consequence  of  the  neglect 
and  tyranny  of  the  Proprietors,  he  writes  to  them  that 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  623 

"he  is  out  of  pocket  £1000  sterling,"  by  reason  of  the 
extraordinary  expenses  he  was  at  in  suppressing  the 
pirates.^ 

Governor  Johnson's  appeals  brought  at  last,  on  April 
29,  1719,  the  information  that  the  Lords  of  Admiralty 
had  consented  to  send  a  frigate  "  as  soon  as  possible  " ; 
and  some  months  after,  the  man-of-war  Flambourgh^ 
Captain  Hildesly,  arrived  and  was  placed  on  duty  in  the 
harbor,  while  the  Phoenix^  Captain  Pierce,  was  sent  to 
cruise  along  the  coast,  keeping  a  lookout  for  any  free- 
booters who  might  venture  to  depredate  on  the  commerce 
of  the  colonies. 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  236-239. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

1719 

The  year  1719,  so  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Carolina 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  Proprietors'  Government,  opened 
most  auspiciously  to  the  interest  of  their  Lordships.  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  heroic  and  efficient  conduct  in  regard  to 
the  pirates  had  greatly  propitiated  the  people  of  the  col- 
ony. The  Assembly  forgave  the  lecture  he  had  read  them 
upon  his  arrival  upon  their  conduct  and  duties  to  the 
Proprietors,  and  forgot  the  controversy  in  regard  to  the 
Public  Receiver.  Putting  aside  all  matters  of  difference, 
they  entered  into  the  most  cordial  relations  with  the 
Governor.  They  passed  an  act  declaring  the  willingness 
of  the  people  of  the  province  to  consent  to  any  reasonable 
measure  whereby  their  Lordships  might  have  justice  done 
them  with  respect  to  their  rents ;  and  "  for  promoting  so 
good  and  just  a  design  and  that  the  Lords  Proprietors 
seeing  the  inclination  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  province 
to  do  them  justice,  and  duly  to  pay  them  their  rents,  may 
assist  this  province,  and  use  their  interest  to  support  the 
same  and  to  promote  the  good  thereof,  and  that  all  differ- 
ences and  misunderstandings  between  their  Lordships  and 
the  people  may  be  removed,"  etc.  They  agreed  that  all 
arrears  of  rents,  and  all  that  should  thereafter  become 
due,  should  be  paid  either  in  lawful  money  according 
to  the  statute  of  the  6th  of  Queen  Anne,  which,  at  that 
time,  would  have  required  ,£4  in  currency  to  XI  in  good 
money,  or  else  in  good  merchantable  rice  at  the  rate  of 

624 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMKNT  625 

17s.  6d,  per  100,  or  good  pitch  at  the  rate  of  15s.  per 
barrel,  or  tar  at  the  rate  of  7s.  Qd.  per  barrel.  This  was 
a  compliance  with  their  Lordships'  demand  as  stated  by 
the  Governor  in  his  opening  speech  to  the  Commons  the 
year  before.  They  provided  also  for  the  enforcement  and 
collection  of  the  rents.  The  act  went  on  to  say  that  see- 
ing, by  an  order  of  the  Board  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  of 
the  3d  of  May,  1716,  their  Lordships  had  been  pleased 
to  give  all  their  arrears  that  were  then  in  Carolina  due 
to  them,  whether  for  land  sold,  or  for  rent  that  should 
become  due  on  the  1st  of  May,  1718,  to  the  use  of  the 
public  as  the  Governor  and  Council  should  think  most 
proper  to  appropriate  the  same ;  but,  by  reason  of  some 
misunderstanding  between  the  Lords  Proprietors  and  the 
people,  their  Lordships  were  pleased  to  withdraw  their 
intended  gift ;  but  seeing,  also,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province,  by  their  representative  in  the  Assembly,  had 
showed  their  willingness  to  do  their  Lordships  justice  with 
respect  to  their  rents,  which  made  them  hope  that  all 
differences  would  be  entirely  forgotten,  they  proceeded  to 
appropriate  the  arrears  of  rent  to  the  building  of  a  state 
house  and  prison.  To  this  act  the  Governor  and  the 
other  Proprietors'  deputies  consented,  without  further 
consulting  their  Lordships. ^ 

The  next  business  of  the  General  Assembly  was  to  re- 
vise again  the  election  law,  and  to  make  another  appor- 
tionment of  representation,  the  number  of  which  they 
increased  from  thirty  to  thirty-six,  as  follows  :  St.  Philip's 
parish  was  allowed  five  members  instead  of  four ;  Christ 
Church  two ;  St.  John's  three.  A  part  of  St.  Andrew's 
had  been  cut  off  and  made  into  a  new  parish,  St.  George's, 
so  St.  Andrew's  lost  one  member,  but  St.  George's  was 
given  two,  a  gain  of  one  to  the  old  parish.     St.  James, 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  44-49. 
2s 


626  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAKOLIKA 

Goose  Creek,  was  also  given  an  additional  member,  mak- 
ing its  representation  four  members  ;  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Dennis  three  ;  St.  Paul's  four.  An  additional  member 
was  given  respectively  to  St.  Bartholomew  and  St.  Helena, 
making  th^m  representatives  from  each.  Winyaw  was 
added  to  St.  James,  Santee,  and  the  two  were  allowed 
together  two  members.^  The  Assembly  laid  duties  on 
negroes,  liquors,  and  other  goods  and  merchandise  im- 
ported to  and  exported  out  of  the  province,  for  raising  a 
fund  towards  defraying  the  public  charges  and  expenses  of 
the  government;  2  and  passed  an  act  for  raising  X 70, 000 
on  lands  and  negroes,  for  defraying  the  public  debt,  sink- 
ing the  public  orders,  and  calling  in  and  cancelling  the 
sum  of  X  30,000  outstanding  on  bills  of  credit  over  and 
beside  the  bank  bills.^  A  commission  was  provided  to 
regulate  the  Indian  trade ;  the  commissioners  appointed 
were  Colonel  Thomas  Broughton,  Colonel  George  Logan, 
and  Ralph  Izard,  Esq.*  These  acts  were  all  ratified  on  the 
20th  of  March,  1718-19,  and  were  the  last  attempted 
legislation  under  the  Proprietary  Government. 

It  was  while  the  General  Assembly  was  thus  engaged  in 
providing  for  the  sinking  of  the  paper  currency  and  in  con- 
triving to  pay  for  their  expedition  against  the  pirates  and 
their  other  contingent  debts,  and  while  it  was  said  "  they 
were  never  observ'd  to  be  in  so  good  a  disposition  towards 
the  Proprietors,  but  were  doing  everything  that  could  be 
asked  of  them,"  that  an  order  to  the  Governor  came  to 
dissolve  the  Assembly  forthwith  and  to  call  a  new  one, 
to  be  elected  according  to  the  ancient  custom.^ 

This  order,  under  the  great  seal  of  the  province,  was 
dated  the  18th  of  July  before  (1718).  It  was  signed  by 
Carteret,  Palatine,  James  Bertie  for  the  minor  Duke  of 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  50-55.  2  j^^^^  56.  s  ji^ia.^  69. 

*  Ibid.,  86.      ^  Proceedings  of  the  People  of  So.  Ca.  (Carroll) ,  vol.  1, 150. 


tTNDEtl   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  627 

Beaufort,  Fulwar  Skipwith  for  the  minorf  Lord  Craven, 
Maurice  Ashley,  John  Colleton,  and  John  Danson.  Two 
shares  were  unrepresented,  and  two  belonging  to  minors 
were  represented  by  their  guardians,  who  were  thus  inci- 
dentally exercising  governmental  powers.^ 

The  first  clause  of  this  imperious  decree  stated  that  his 
Majesty  had  been  pleased,  by  his  order  in  council,  to  sig- 
nify his  Royal  pleasure  that  the  Lords  Proprietors  should 
forthwith  repeal  the  act  of  the  province  whereby  a  duty 
of  ten  per  cent  was  laid  upon  goods  of  British  manufact- 
ure imported  into  the  province ;  and  that  in  obedience  to 
his  Majesty's  command  their  Lordships  declared  the  same 
repealed.  Against  this  Royal  mandate,  whether  constitu- 
tional or  not,  it  was  vain  to  protest,  and  the  colonists 
accepted  the  repeal  with  submission. 

But  it  was  another  matter  altogether  Avhen,  in  the  same 
instrument,  the  Proprietors  proceeded  to  repeal  other 
measures  to  which  their  representatives,  the  Governor, 
and  the  other  members  of  the  Council,  deputies  of  the 
Proprietors,  had  solemnly  assented  and  ratified.  True, 
the  Proprietors  had  always  claimed  the  right,  sitting  as 
a  Palatine  Court  in  England,  to  negative  the  proceedings 
of  the  Assembly  in  Carolina ;  but  the  colonists,  aware  of 
the  growing  weakness  of  their  Lordships'  hold  upon  the 
charter  at  home,  and  more  and  more  restless  under  the 
feeble  and  yet  tyrannical  rule  of  an  irresponsible  and 
indifferent  body,  were  not  now  disposed  to  submit  to 
such  unjust  dealings  without  a  closer  scrutiny  into  their 
right  to  enforce  them. 

^The  next  measure  to  which  their  Lordships'  order 
referred  was  that  vexed  one  of  the  nomination  of  the 
Public  Receiver.  Finding,  they  said,  this  act  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  safety,  welfare,  and  good  govern- 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  30. 


628  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

ment  of  the  prc^vince,  and  inconsistent  with  the  usage  and 
custom  of  Great  Britain,  they  declared  the  act  giving  the 
nomination  of  the  Public  Receiver  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons to  be  null  and  void.  How  there  could  have  been  a 
custom  or  usage  upon  this  subject  in  Great  Britain,  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive.  Of  course  there  was  none.  The 
question  raised  in  1707  in  regard  to  this  matter  was  one 
not  free  from  fair  doubt ;  but  the  Proprietors  had  acqui- 
esced now  for  ten  years  in  the  assertion  of  the  right  of 
nomination  by  the  Commons,  and  it  was  most  unwise  and 
impolitic  to  agitate  the  matter  again  at  this  time  when 
their  charter  was  so  seriously  threatened  at  home,  espe- 
cially as  the  colonists  were  just  now  disposed  to  renew 
their  loyalty  to  their  Lordships. 

But  the  repeal  of  the  act  in  regard  to  the  election  of 
the  Receiver  did  not  touch  the  people  so  sensitively  as 
the  order  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  in  regard  to  election. 
"  We  have  likewise,"  said  their  Lordships,  "  read  and  con- 
sidered two  acts  of  assembly,  the  one  entitled  an  act  to 
keep  inviolate  and  preserve  the  freedom  of  elections," 
etc. :  "  the  other  entitled  an  additional  and  explanatory  act 
to  the  forgoing  act,  and  finding  the  said  two  acts  tend  to 
the  entire  alteration  and  subversion  of  the  constitution  of 
the  Province  of  South  Carolina  and  are  contrary  to  the 
laws  and  customs  of  Parliament  in  Great  Britain  we  there- 
fore do  declare  the  said  two  last  mentioned  Acts  to  be  null 
and  void  and  we  do  hereby  repeal  nullifie  and  make  void 
the  said  two  acts  and  every  clause  matter  or  thing  therein 
contained  whatsoever.  "^ 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  Yamassee  lands,  which  had 
been  recovered  upon  the  expulsion  of  those  Indians,  had 
been    appropriated,  by   the    Proprietors'    permission,^   to 

1  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  Ill,  31. 

^  Ante;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  164. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  629 

new-comers,  in  order  to  build  up  a  more  settled  country 
between  the  Indians  and  the  rest  of  the  province.  An  act 
had  been  passed  for  the  purpose,  and  under  its  provisions 
several  hundred  immigrants  from  Ireland  had  come  out 
with  the  promise  of  200  acres  to  each  settler,  at  an 
expense  of  thousands  of  pounds  expended  by  the  colony 
to  fetch  them  here.^  This  act  was  also  repealed.  "  We 
have  read  also,"  wrote  the  Proprietors,  "two  other  acts 
of  the  Assembly  the  titles  of  which  are  an  act  to  appro- 
priate the  Yamassee  lands  to  the  use  of  such  persons  as 
shall  come  into  and  settle  themselves  in  this  Province 
etc :  and  an  act  to  grant  several  privileges  exemptions 
and  encouragements  to  such  of  his  Majesty's  Protestant 
subjects  as  are  desirous  to  come  into  and  settle  in  this 
province  —  which  two  Acts  being  an  encroachment  upon 
the  property  of  us  the  Lords  Proprietors  and  tend  only 
to  the  disposal  of  our  estates  to  which  the  Assembly 
can  pretend  no  manner  of  right,  we  therefore  do  declare 
the  said  two  Acts  to  be  null  and  void,"  etc. 

The  Indian  Trade  act  they  also  repealed,  because  it  was 
said  several  merchants  in  London  had  complained  of  it  as 
a  monopoly. 

>/The  communication  announcing  these  repeals  was  re- 
ceived with  the  utmost  astonishment  and  consternation 
by  the  Governor  and  Council,  who  had  assented  to  these 
measures,  supposing  themselves  to  possess  the  confidence 
of  the  Proprietors  —  chosen,  as  they  had  so  recently  been, 
as  their  Lordships'  deputies.  There  was  one  member  of 
the  Council,  however,  who  did  not  share  in  the  surprise, 
and  who  looked  on,  doubtless,  with  amusement  and  satis- 
faction at  the  alarm  and  embarrassment  of  his  fellow- 
councillors,  and  that  was  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Trott.  It 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  known  in  the  province  that 
1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  294. 


630  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Trott  was  carrying  on  a  regular  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Shelton,  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Proprietors, 
with  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  their  Lordships 
themselves ;  but  it  was  suspected  that  he  was  in  private 
communication  with  them,  and  that  this  extraordinary 
action  on  their  part  had  been  brought  about  by  Rhett 
and  himself,  "with  whom,"  as  it  was  said,  "they  had 
always  too  much  influence  either  for  their  Lordships'  or 
the  people's  good."  ^  Trott  and  Rhett  had  exercised  great 
political  influence  when  the  elections  were  all  held  at 
Charles  Town,  and  they  had  opposed  and  obstructed  the 
passage  of  the  new  election  law,  as  it  removed  the  elec- 
tions from  their  control.  This  they  resented  and,  it  was 
correctly  surmised,  had  communicated  with  the  Proprietors 
upon  the  subject. 

There  were  other  and  still  stronger  grounds  of  opposi- 
tion to  Trott.  Though  doubtless  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  learning,  one  to  whom,  as  it  has  been  seen.  South 
Carolina  is  to  this  day  indebted  in  a  great  measure  for 
her  system  of  laws,  he  was  both  corrupt  and  tyrannical 
as  a  judge.  Richard  Allein,  the  Attorney  General,  who 
had  been  the  prosecuting  officer  in  the  recent  trials  of 
the  pirates,  and  other  practitioners  of  the  law,  charged 
him  with  many  base  and  iniquitous  practices. ^ 

Just  before  the  arrival  of  these  unlooked-for  orders 
there  had  been  presented  to  the  Assembly  articles  of  com- 
plaint against  the  Chief  Justice,  thirty-one  in  number,^ 
setting  forth,  "  That  he  had  been  guilty  of  many  Partial 

1  Proceedings  of  the  People  (Carroll),  vol.  II,  149. 

2  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  241. 

8  There  are  no  Journals  of  the  Commons  from  1718  to  1720.  Probably 
they  were  lost  in  the  revolution  which  took  place  in  1719.  The  account 
in  the  text  follows,  therefore,  Yonge's  Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
People  of  So.  Ca.  in  the  year  1719.  London,  MDCCXXVI ;  republished 
in  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  141. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  631 

Judgments  ;  that  he  had  contriv'd  many  Ways  to  multiply 
and  increase  his  Fees  contrary  to  Acts  of  Assembly,  and  to 
the  great  Grievance  to  the  Subjects,  and  that  among  others 
he  had  contriv'd  a  Fee  for  continuing  Causes  from  one 
Court  (or  Term)  unto  another,  and  then  he  put  off  the 
Hearing  for  several  Years  together ;  that  he  took  upon 
him  to  give  Advice  in  Causes  depending  in  his  Courts, 
and  did  not  only  act  as  a  Counsellor  in  that  particular, 
but  also  had,  and  did  draw  Deeds,  and  other  Writings 
between  Party  and  Party,  some  of  which  had  been  con- 
tested before  him  as  Chief  Justice :  in  the  determining  of 
which  he  had  shewn  great  Partialities  with  many  other 
Particulars;  and  lastly  complaining  that  the  Avhole  Judi- 
cial Power  of  the  Province  was  lodg'd  in  his  Hands  alone, 
of  which  it  was  evident  he  had  made  a  very  ill  Use ;  he 
being  at  that  time  sole  judge  of  the  Pleas  and  King^s 
Bench  and  Judge  of  Vice  Admiralty ;  so  that  no  Prohibi- 
tion could  be  lodg'd  against  the  Proceedings  of  that 
Court,  he  being  in  that  Case  to  grant  a  Prohibition 
against  himself ;  he  was  also  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  Council  and  of  consequence,  of  the  court  of  Chancery.^'' 
These  complaints  of  the  attorneys  who  practised  in  the 
courts  were  fully  substantiated  to  the  Commons;  but 
Trott  refused  to  recognize  the  authority  of  that  body  to 
act  in  the  matter.  He  insisted  that  he  was  amenable 
only  to  the  Proprietors  themselves,  from  whom  he  had 
received  his  commissions,  and  could  be  impeached  before 
no  other  body.  The  Commons  thereupon  sent  a  message 
to  the  Governor  and  Council  desiring  that  they  would 
join  in  a  representation  to  their  Lordships  of  Trott's  mal- 
administration of  his  offices,  and  to  supplicate  them  that 
if  they  did  not  think  fit  to  remove  him  entirely  from  pre- 
siding in  their  courts  of  justice  (as  the  Commons  desired), 
that  they  would  at  least  restrict  him  to  one  single  juris- 


632  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

diction,  that  they  might  have  liberty  of  appealing  from 
his  sole  and  too  often  partial  judgments.  The  Governor 
and  a  majority  of  his  Council  agreed  with  the  Commons 
to  represent  the  grievances  they  complained  of  to  the 
Proprietors. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  orders  repealing  the  acts 
mentioned,  and  requiring  the  Governor  to  dissolve  the 
Assembly,  arrived.  This  the  Governor  and  Council  con- 
sidered impracticable  and  dangerous  at  the  time.  The 
Commons  had  just  passed  acts  to  raise  the  funds  for  pay- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  expeditions  against  the  pirates, 
for  meeting  in  part  other  debts  of  the  province,  and  for 
maintaining  the  government.  To  dissolve  the  Assembly, 
and  to  declare  its  measures  null  and  void,  because  not 
elected  under  the  new  election  law,  would  be  to  cut  off 
the  means  of  carrying  on  the  government,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  present  in  Carolina  knew  too  well  the 
condition  of  the  people  and  the  public  sentiment  to  be- 
lieve that  any  new  Assembly,  elected  though  it  might  be 
at  Charles  Town  under  the  old  system,  would  renew  these 
grants  of  supplies  or  do  anything  that  the  Proprietors 
might  wish.  They  took  upon  themselves,  therefore,  the 
responsibility  of  withholding  this  instruction  and  allowing 
the  Assembly  to  proceed  with  its  business.  They  com- 
municated, however,  to  the  Commons  the  repeal  of  the 
acts  sent  out  by  the  Proprietors.  The  Commons  denied 
the  Proprietors'  right  of  repeal.  Messages  passed  between 
the  two  Houses  upon  the  subject,  and  a  general  conference 
of  both  Houses  was  held,  at  which  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Trott 
made  a  speech,  maintaining  the  authority  of  their  Lord- 
ships for  the  purpose ;  to  which  the  Commons  replied. 
For  this  speech  the  Chief  Justice  was  afterwards  thanked 
by  their  Lordships.  Recognizing  the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion, which  the  Proprietors  did  not  appear  at  all  to  appre- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  633 

ciate,  the  Governor  and  Council  determined  to  send  one 
of  their  own  number  to  England  to  inform  the  Proprietors 
personally  of  the  situation,  and  to  explain  the  reasons 
which  had  induced  the  withholding  of  their  instructions 
to  dissolve  the  Assembly,  as  well  as  to  lay  before  them  the 
complaints  against  Chief  Justice  Trott,  and  to  confer  with 
their  Lordships  upon  sundry  other  matters.  All  this,  it 
was  thought,  could  better  be  done  in  person  by  one  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  councils  and  discussions  in  Carolina 
than  by  letter.  Mr.  Francis  Yonge  was  selected  for  the 
purpose,  was  fully  instructed,  and  sailed  for  England. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  affairs  of  the  colony  in  England 
were  all  steadily  tending  to  the  subversion  of  the  Proprie- 
tors' charter.  While  Governor  Johnson  was  so  ably  and 
gallantly  contending  with  the  pirates,  he  had  not  failed  to 
represent  to  the  Lords  of  Admiralty  the  danger  to  the 
colony  from  these  public  enemies,  and  to  appeal  to  his 
Majesty's  government  that  a  frigate  should  be  sent  to  the 
coast  of  Carolina  as  soon  as  possible. ^  Such  an  appeal, 
acknowledging  the  inability  of  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment to  defend  its  territory,  greatly  strengthened  the  dis- 
position of  the  Royal  Government  in  some  way  to  put 
an  end  to  a  charter  which  allowed  the  Proprietors  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  rulers  over  a  portion  of  his 
Majesty's  subjects,  without  the  correlative  responsibility 
of  affording  them  protection.  The  Lords  of  Admiralty 
ordered  that  a  frigate  should  be  sent.  The  Board  of 
Trade  and  Plantations  determined  the  more  resolutely  to 
get  rid  of  the  charter.  To  this  resolve,  Mr.  Boone,  the 
agent  of  the  Carolina  Commons,  who  was  still  in  England, 
was  urgent  and  zealous  in  pressing  their  Lordships. 

The  Proprietors  had  endeavored  to  persuade  the  board 
that  Mr.  Boone  represented  only  a  party  or  faction  in  the 
1  Coll.  Hist.  JSoc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  258. 


634  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

province,  and  not  the  people  generally.  In  answer  to 
this  an  address  was  signed  not  only  by  the  members  of 
the  Commons,  but  by  five  hundred  and  sixty-eight  others, 
—  which  was  more  than  one-half  of  the  (male)  inhabi- 
tants of  the  province,  —  imploring  to  be  taken  under  his 
Majesty's  immediate  government.  In  their  address  they 
say:  — 

"  We  further  take  the  liberty  to  inform  your  Majesty 
that  notwithstanding  all  our  miseries,  the  Lords  Proprie- 
tors of  the  Province  instead  of  using  any  endeavors  for 
our  relief  and  assistance  are  pleased  to  term  all  our  en- 
deavors to  procure  your  Majesty's  Royal  protection  the 
business  of  a  faction  or  party.  We  most  humbly  assure 
your  Majesty  that  'tis  so  far  from  being  anything  of  that 
nature  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  (in  general) 
are  not  only  convinced  that  no  human  power  but  that  of 
your  Majesty  can  save  them,  but  earnestly  and  fervently 
desire  that  this  once  flourishing  Province  may  be  added 
to  those  already  under  your  happy  protection." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  address,  Mr.  Boone  again  me- 
morialized the  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantation. 
"  I  again  make  bold,"  he  said,  "  to  trouble  your  Lordships 
in  this  behalf  at  their  request  entreating  your  Lordships 
once  more  to  represent  to  his  Majesty  the  miseries  and 
distresses  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  of  South  Carolina  and  the  certain  inevitable 
ruin  that  must  attend  those  that  continue  to  remain 
unless  his  Majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  take 
them  under  his  immediate  protection." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  memorial  with  the  petition  of 
the  people  of  South  Carolina,  the  Board  of  Trade  for- 
warded it  at  once  to  Mr.  Secretary  Craggs,  saying  that 
they  thought  it  proper  to  lose  no  time  in  communicating 
it,  so  that  he  might  receive  his  Majesty's  orders  there- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  635 

upon.  The  board  added :  "  Upon  this  occasion  we  can- 
not help  repeating  the  advice  which  has  frequently  been 
given  by  the  Board  that  the  proper  methods  be  taken  for 
resuming  of  this  and  all  other  proprietary  governments 
into  the  hands  of  his  Majesty."  ^ 

Mr.  Yonge  arrived  in  London  in  the  month  of  May, 
1719.  His  mission  was  not,  however,  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  Plantation  or  to  assist  Mr.  Boone  in  his  ap- 
peals to  that  body.  It  was  rather  to  save  the  Proprietors 
from  their  interference  that  he  had  crossed  the  ocean. 
Immediately,  therefore,  upon  his  arrival  he  sought  to 
obtain  an  audience  of  their  Lordships. 

The  Boai:d  of  Proprietors  at  this  time  consisted  of  but 
four  members  in  their  own  right :  Lord  Carteret,  the  Pal- 
atine, the  Hon.  Maurice  Ashley,  Sir  John  Colleton,  and 
John  Danson.  The  minor  Duke  of  Beaufort,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  represented  by  the  Hon.  James  Bertie  ;  the 
minor  Earl  of  Craven,  by  Fulwar  Skipwith  ;  the  minor 
Joseph  Blake  in  Carolina  had  no  representative  ;  and  the 
original  share  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  which  stood  in 
the  name  of  Nicholas  Trott,  of  London,  was  still  unrepre- 
sented, as  the  other  Proprietors  refused  to  recognize  his 
title.  It  so  happened  that  just  at  this  time  Lord  Car- 
teret, the  Palatine,  was  about  to  begin  his  brilliant 
career  as  a  diplomatist,  and  was  preparing  for  his  first 
embassy,  —  that  to  Sweden.  In  the  careless  arrogance  of 
his  character,  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  at  such  a 
time  he  would  waste  his  thoughts  upon  the  disagreeable 
affairs  of  Carolina.  And  so  it  happened  that  there  was  a 
repetition  of  the  circumstances  that,  twenty-four  years  be- 
fore, attended  the  efforts  to  obtain  a  meeting  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors  to  send  out  one  of  their  number  to  Carolina 
to  settle  the  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  that  then  ex- 
1  Public  Becords  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  VII,  125  et  seq. 


636  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

isted  in  the  colony.  Then  it  will  be  remembered  that 
weeks  were  spent  before  a  quorum  could  be  got  together, 
and  that  in  the  end  a  quorum  was  only  made  by  admit- 
ting to  seats  both  Archdale  and  Amy,  with  their  doubtful 
and  conflicting  titles.  The  business  of  the  Proprietors 
had  since  been  still  more  loosely  conducted.  Meetings  of 
their  Lordships — the  Palatine  Court,  as  it  was  at  first 
grandiloquently  styled — had  been  entirely  neglected  and 
dispensed  with.  Everything  was  left  to.  the  Secretary, 
Mr.  Shelton,  and  Mr.  Shelton  was  the  friend  of  Trott  and 
Rhett.  He  received  and  read  the  dispatches,  and,  it  was 
charged,  misrepresented  their  contents  in  the  interests  of 
his  friends  in  Carolina.  He  drew  the  papers  and  instruc- 
tions in  reply,  and  carried  them  round  to  such  of  the  Pro- 
prietors as  were  in  London,  or  sent  them  by  post  to  those 
who  were  not  in  town.  It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that 
under  these  circumstances  Mr.  Yonge  would  easily  obtain 
the  audience  he  desired.  Lord  Carteret,  to  whom  he  ap- 
plied as  Palatine,  referred  him  to  the  other  Proprietors. 
Having  waited  on  them  two  or  three  times,  he  seems  at 
last  to  have  obtained  a  meeting  of  some  of  them,  to  whom 
he  submitted  a  memorial. 

This  memorial  set  out  his  commission  from  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  of  South  Carolina  to  lay  before  their 
Lordships  not  only  the  several  acts  of  Assembly  passed 
at  its  last  sessions  for  their  approbation,  but  also  to  inform 
their  Lordships  of  the  reasons  which  induced  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  to  defer  dissolving  the  Assembly  pur- 
suant to  their  commands,  and  to  lay  before  them  the 
communication  which  had  passed  between  the  Governor 
and  his  Council  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Commons  House 
of  Assembly  on  the  other,  touching  their  Lordships'  right 
of  repealing  laws  ratified  and  confirmed  by  their  Lord- 
ships' deputies.     He  presented,  therefore,  the  speech  made 


UJ^DER   TH^   tROPRtSTARY   GOVERNMENT  6S7 

by  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Trott,  at  the  general  conference  of 
both  Houses,  and  the  Commons'  answer  thereto,  with  the 
several  messages  which  passed  between  them,  which  he 
hoped  would  show  that  no  arguments  or  endeavors  were 
wanting  on  their  part  to  assert  their  Lordships'  right  of 
repealing  laws  not  ratified  by  themselves. 
.  He  represented  to  them  that  the  Governor  and  Council 
would  not  have  allowed  this  opportunity  of  disputing 
their  Lordships'  powers,  but  would  have  dissolved  the 
Commons  according  to  their  commands,  had  it  been  pos- 
sible to  have  done  so,  without  the  greatest  injury  to  the 
country  and  to  the  merchants  and  other  persons  who  had 
voluntarily  furnished,  or  from  whom  necessary  things  had 
been  pressed,  for  fitting  out  the  two  expeditions  against 
the  pirates,  which  amounted  to  £10,000,  and  for  which 
the  Commons  had  provided  the  payment,  which  it  could 
not  be  expected  another  House  would  again  agree  to, 
considering  the  ill-humor  their  dissolution  was  likely  to 
create.  He  represented  that  the  repeal  of  the  Imposition 
act,  the  duties  of  which  were  applied  to  the  payment  of 
the  clergy,  the  maintenance  of  the  garrison,  and  the  pay- 
ment of  several  public  debts,  left  them  no  means  of  meet- 
ing orders  which  had  been  drawn,  on  the  faith  of  that  act, 
to  the  amount  of  <£ 30,000.  The  enforcement  of  the  re- 
peal of  the  Indian  Trading  act  might  have  brought  those 
people  down  on  the  settlements  and  have  occasioned  an- 
other Indian  war.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  provide 
some  other  means  of  sinking  the  £35,000  in  bills  of  credit, 
since  the  act  to  do  so  had  been  repealed. 

The  above  reasons,  Mr.  Yonge  said,  they  presumed 
would  convince  their  Lordships  that  the  Governor  and 
Council  could  not  then  immediately  dissolve  the  Assem- 
bly, which  had  but  six  weeks  to  continue  by  their  biennial 
act.     "  And   it   is   with   some   pleasure,"  continued   Mr. 


63B  HISTORY  Oi'   SOUTH  CAROLmA 

Yonge,  "  that  the  Governor  and  Council  can  inform  your 
Lordships  that  they  think  they  have  preserved  any  rights 
you  were  before  possessed  of,  and  at  the  same  time  have 
got  such  laws  as  with  your  Lordships'  approbation  will 
contribute  much  to  settle  the  country,  and  give  no  offence 
to  Great  Britain." 

Mr.  Yonge  then  went  on  to  explain  several  minor  mat- 
ters. The  Governor  and  Council  had  frequently  urged  the 
Secretary,  Mr.  Hart,  to  transmit  to  their  Lordships  copies 
of  the  laws  passed  as  required  by  their  instructions,  so 
that  they  might  approve  or  signify  their  disapprobation 
of  them  ;  but  Mr.  Hart's  difficulty  was  to  get  them  tran- 
scribed, as  the  cost  of  doing  so  was  £100  a  year,  besides 
books,  pens,  ink,  and  paper,  while  their  Lordships'  allow- 
ance to  him  for  the  whole  was  but  X40.  The  Council, 
therefore,  took  the  liberty  of  requesting  their  Lordships 
to  augment  the  salary  of  the  Secretary,  or  to  allow  a 
clerk,  with  competent  salary,  to  attend  the  Council  and 
transcribe  such  laws  and  other  things  necessary  to  be 
sent  to  them.  Mr.  Yonge  stated  further  that  the  room 
the  Council  had  sat  in  for  the  last  four  years  belonged  to 
Mr.  William  Gibbon,  and  they  had  promised  Mr.  Gibbon 
to  ask  for  some  compensation  for  its  use  ;  and  that  the 
Council  thought  it  not  unreasonable  to  ask  some  allow- 
ance for  themselves  to  defray  the  expenses  they  were  at 
in  attending  the  Council,  Court  of  Chancery,  and  Assem- 
bly, which  took  up  one- third  part  of  their  time. 

He  was  also  directed  to  move  their  Lordships  to  pro- 
cure custom  house  officers  at  the  port  of  Beaufort,  that 
town  increasing  very  much  in  inhabitants,  and  it  being  a 
very  great  discouragement  to  them  that  they  were  obliged 
to  bring  all  their  produce  to  Charles  Town. 

It  was  the  humble  request  and  advice  of  the  Governor 
and  Council,  as  a  thing  that  would  lay  a  very  great  obli- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERKMENT  639 

gation  on  the  country  in  general,  that  their  Lordships 
would  grant  6000  acres  of  land  gratis  to  the  public  for  the 
use  of  three  garrisons — at  Savannah  Town^  the  Congarees^ 
and  the  Apalachocoles  ;  and  that  some  part  of  the  land  to 
the  northward  might  be  granted  and  disposed  of  on  the 
same  terms  as  the  Yamassee  lands  in  order  to  the  settling 
and  peopling  the  frontiers  north  and  south. 

As  these,  his  memorial  said,  would  be  very  great 
concessions  which  they  hoped  would  dispose  the  people 
to  make  their  Lordships  such  returns  of  duty  and  respect 
as  they  wished  had  always  been  done,  and  contribute  to 
the  peopling  of  the  country,  so  they  also  hoped  their 
Lordships  would  secure  and  preserve  them  in  their 
properties  (a  much  greater  encouragement  than  all  the 
rest)  by  putting  it  in  their  power  to  assert  their 
undoubted  right  of  appealing  from  any  erroneous  judg- 
ments in  law,  which  right  they  are  now  debarred  by  the 
sole  judicial  power  being  lodged  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Chief 
Justice  Trott  in  the  King's  Bench,  Court  of  Pleas,  Court 
of  Admiralty,  and  Court  of  Chancery;  a  trust  never 
reposed  in  any  one  man  before  in  the  world,  and  which 
the  General  Assembly  had  desired  them  to  join  in  asking 
their  Lordships  to  remedy. 

With  the  memorial  Mr.  Yonge  delivered  a  letter  from 
Governor  Johnson,  the  articles  of  complaint  against  Chief 
Justice  Trott,  and  an  address  from  the  Governor, 
Council,  and  Assembly  that  he  might  be  removed  or  at 
least  restricted  to  one  single  jurisdiction  ;  also  several 
acts  of  Assembly,  one  of  which  was  for  the  better 
recovery  of  their  quit-rents,  with  clause  making  it  of  no 
force  unless  approved  by  their  Lordships. 

Mr.  Yonge  was  kept  three  months  dangling  in  attend- 
ance upon  their  Lordships  in  the  hope  of  satisfying 
them   in   anything   they    might   have    occasion    to    have 


640  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLIKA 

inquired  into  concerning  the  condition  of  the  country,  or 
the  best  means  to  allay  the  discontent  and  reconcile  the 
people  to  their  authority,  which  he  complains  was  no 
more  than  he  might  have  expected  since  they  had  done 
him  the  honor  to  appoint  him  their  Surveyor  General 
and  one  of  their  Council,  since  also  "  he  had  sailed  five 
or  six  thousand  miles  for  their  service  "  as  the  Governor 
and  Council  had  desired  him.  The  Proprietors,  or  rather 
such  of  them  as  were  managing  affairs,  took,  however, 
a  very  different  view  of  his  embassy.  He  was  given  to 
understand  that  the  business  on  which  he  was  sent  was 
extremely  disagreeable  to  them ;  that  both  the  trouble  he 
had  taken  and  the  office  he  had  accepted,  as  agent  for  the 
people,  were  inconsistent  with  his  duty  as  one  of  their 
deputies,  bound  to  act  agreeable  to  their  instructions.^ 
They  declared  their  displeasure  with  the  members  of  the 
Council  who  had  joined  the  Lower  House  against  Trott 
and,  to  manifest  how  much  they  resented  their  conduct, 
they  broke  up  the  present  Council  and  appointed  another, 
consisting  of  twelve  instead  of  the  former  number  of 
seven,  who,  with  the  Governor  as  the  deputy  of  the  Pala- 
tine, represented  the  other  seven  proprietorships.  In  the 
new  Council  those  who  had  joined  in  the  complaint 
against  Trott,  viz.  Colonel  Thomas  Broughton,  the  Gov- 
ernor's brother-in-law,  Mr.  Alexander  Skene,  and  Mr. 
James  Kinloch,  were  left  out,  and  one  of  the  Proprietors 
told  Mr.  Yonge  that  he  had  also  been  left  out  but  was 
retained  in  respect  to  Lord  Carteret,  who  was  his  patron. ^ 
This  much  Mr.  Yonge  appears  to  have  learned.  For  the 
rest  he  was  dispatched  back  to  Carolina  with  sealed 
packets,  amongst  which,  upon  his  arrival,  was  found  the 
following  letter  to  the  Governor  :  — 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  245. 

2  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  294. 


UNDER   THE  PROPKIETARY  GOVERNMENT  641 

"Sir.  AVe  have  receiv'd  and  perus'd  your  Letters  and  all  your 
Papers  deliver'd  us  by  your  agent  Mr  Yonge  and  though  we  are 
favourably  inclin'd  in  all  our  Thoughts  relating  to  our  Governor,  yet 
we  must  tell  you  we  think  you  have  not  obeyed  your  Orders  and 
Directions  given  to  you  to  Dissolve  that  Assembly  and  call  another 
forthwith  according  to  the  ancient  Usage  and  Custom  of  the  Prov- 
ince ;  and  to  publish  our  Repeals  of  those  Acts  of  Assembly  immedi- 
ately upon  the  receipt  of  our  Orders  aforesaid:  But  we  shall  say  no 
more  upon  the  subject  now,  not  doubting  but  our  governour  will  pay 
a  more  punctual  obedience  to  our  Orders  for  the  future. 

"  The  Lords  Proprietors  Right  of  Confirming  and  Repealing  Laws 
was  so  particular  a  Privilege  granted  to  them  by  the  Crown  that  we 
can  never  recede  from  it ;  and  we  do  assure  you  that  we  are  not  a 
little  surprised  that  you  should  suffer  that  prerogative  of  ours  to  be 
disputed. 

"  We  have  sent  you  herewith  an  Instruction  under  our  Hands  and 
Seals  nominating  such  persons  as  we  think  fit  to  be  of  the  Council 
with  you  six  whereof  and  yourself  and  no  less  Number  to  be  a  Quorum. 
Upon  your  Receipt  of  this  we  hereby  require  you  to  summon  the 
said  Council  that  they  may  qualify  themselves  according  to  Law  and 
immediately  sit  upon  the  Dispatch  of  business. 

"  We  also  send  you  the  Repeal  of  the  Acts  of  Assembly  which  we 
Order  you  to  publish  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  this. 

"  We  do  assure  IVIr  Johnson  that  we  will  stand  by  him  in  all  Things 
that  relate  to  the  just  Execution  of  his  Office  and  we  are  Confident 
that  he  will  perform  his  duty  to  us  and  support  our  Power  and  Pre- 
rogatives to  the  best  of  his  Abilities. 

"If  the  Assembly  chosen  according  to  your  pretended  late  Act  is 
not  dissolv'd  as  we  formerly  Order'd  and  a  New  Assembly  Chosen 
pursuant  to  the  Act  formerly  confirm'd  by  the  Proprietors  you  are 
forthwith  Commanded  hereby  to  dissolve  that  Assembly  and  to  call 
another,  according  to  the  above  raention'd  Assembly  so  we  bid  you 
Farewell." 

Lord  Carteret's  name  was  put  to  this  document,  not  by 
himself,  —  he  was  absent  on  his  mission  to  Sweden, — but 
by  Mr.  Ashley,  who  had  a  power  to  act  for  his  Lordship. 
Mr.  Bertie  signed  for  the  minor  Duke  of  Beaufort.  The 
other  signatures  were  those  of  Maurice  Ashley,  Sir  John 
Colleton,  and  John  Danson;   and  so  this  fatal  act  was, 

2t 


642  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

in  fact,  the  act  of  but  three  of  the  actual  Proprietors, 
and  those  the  least  influential  of  any  who  had  been 
Proprietors  of  the  province. 

With  this  letter  they  sent  the  instrument  mentioned 
in  it,  under  their  hands  and  seals,  appointing  the  twelve 
members  of  the  new  Council.  These  were  William  Bull, 
Ralph  Izard,  Nicholas  Trott,  Charles  Hart,  Samuel  Wragg, 
Benjamin  De  La  Consiliere,  Peter  St.  Julien,  William  Gib- 
bon, Hugh  Butler,  Francis  Yonge,  Jacob  Satur,  and 
Jonathan  Skrine.^  They  now,  also,  again  repealed  the 
Duty  act  and  the  other  objectionable  measures,  and, 
instead  of  granting  land  for  the  use  of  the  garrisons, 
they  gave  strict  orders  that  no  more  land  should  be 
granted  to  any  person  whatsoever,  but  ordered  fifteen 
baronies,  each  consisting  of  12,000  acres,  to  be  laid  out 
for  their  own  private  use  as  near  as  might  be  to  Port 
Royal.  The  complaints  against  Trott  they  sent  to  him 
that  he  might  answer  them,  and  Avith  them  a  letter  of 
thanks  for  the  speech  he  had  made  at  the  conference  of 
the  two  Houses,  in  support  of  their  right  to  repeal  what 
laws  they  chose.^ 

Governor  Johnson  was  in  a  most  humiliating  position. 
The  result  of  Mr.  Yonge's  embassy  was  a  severe  repri- 
mand and  peremptory  orders  to  obey  his  instructions — 
instructions  which  he  well  knew  would  endanger  the 
authority  of  the  Proprietors.  But,  brave  as  he  had 
shown  himself  against  the  pirates,  he  quailed  before  the 
insignificant  men  who  now  recklessly  controlled  the  Pro- 
prietary Government.  "Assured,"  says  Yonge,  " that  Mr. 
Trott  was  to  rule  the  Province  tho'  he  had  the  name 
of  it  .  .  .  he  resolved  for  the  future  to  act  by  his  and 
the  new  Councils  advice  that  they  might  be  answerable 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.,  293,  note. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ga.,  vol.  I,  195. 


Under  the  PROJ^RiEtARY  government         64^ 

for  any  ill  effects  their  future  councils  and  transactions 
might  produce."  In  pursuance  of  his  orders,  he  called 
his  new  Council  and  qualified  such  of  them  as  would 
serve.  Who  they  were  who  refused  to  qualify  is  not 
certainly  •  known  ;  but,  from  subsequent  proceedings. 
Bull,  Izard,  Hart,  De  La  Consiliere,  Butler,  and  Satur, 
with  Trott,  appear  to  have  qualified.  The  Governor 
declared  the  thre"fe  acts  repealed,  and  by  proclamation 
dissolved  the  Assembly  and  called  a  new  one,  to  be 
chosen  at  Charles  Town  as  before  the  act  of  1716. 

"Thus,"  says  Yonge,  "the  People  were  irritated  and 
heated  to  a  violent  Degree,  and  the  Basis  of  all  Govern- 
ment being  either  Love  Fear  or  Interest  or  perhaps  any 
two,  or  a  Mixture  of  all  the  three,  but  in  this  there  was 
neither  one  nor  the  other  ;  for  they  thought  they  had  no 
Reason  to  love  the  Proprietors  who  not  only  refused  them 
Justice  but  protected  and  countenanc'd  an  Evil  Minister 
in  an  Office  which  most  immediately  affected  their  Lives 
and  Properties,  who  refused  to  part  with  the  Unculti- 
vated Lands  either  for  the  Public  or  any  Private  use 
but  their  own ;  tho'  it  is  apparent  by  their  Charter  it 
was  granted  to  them  to  be  disposed  of  in  such  a  Manner 
as  to  encourage  his  Majesty's  Subjects  to  go  over  and 
settle  there  and  to  extend  his  Dominions ;  and  they  had 
just  before  promised  it  in  Tracts  of  200  Acres  to  new 
Comers,  on  which  Promise  several  Hundreds  had  come 
from  Ireland^  but  could  not  have  a  Yard  of  Land  to 
settle  on  when  they  came,  and  this  notwithstanding  the 
Country  had  been  put  to  the  Expense  of  paying  some 
thousands  of  Pounds  for  their  Passage  to  Carolina^  so  that 
thus  the  Number  of  Inhabitants  could  not  be  increas'd 
nor  their  Frontiers  strengthened,  neither  would  they 
allow  them  the  Freedom  they  desir'd,  and  what  was 
the   Practice  of   other  Colonies   in  chusing  their  Repre- 


644  HISTORY   O^   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

sentatives  nearest  the  methods  used  in  England,  which 
their  Laws  are  to  be  by  the  express  Words  of  the 
Charter.  Another  reason  for  their  not  loving  the  Pro- 
prietors is  the  same  that  made  them  not  fear  them  i.e. 
their  Inability  to  succour  and  protect  them,  either  from 
their  own  Intestine  Enemies,  the  Indians,  or  from  the 
Spaniards  with  whom  at  that  time  there  was  a  War  ; 
for  it  is  very  natural  to  think  that  if  they  could  not 
send  Forces  to  assist  them,  it  would  be  as  difficult  to 
correct  them;  and  lastly  they  judg'd  it  plainly  their 
Interest  to  be  under  the  Crown  who  could  and  would 
protect  them,  and  also  (as  they  hoped)  to  put  them  in 
the  same  Circumstances  with  his  Majesty's  other  Colonies 
in  America  who  they  found  had  proper  Assistance  from 
the  Crown.  As  there  was  therefore  neither  Fear,  nor 
Love,  nor  Interest  to  support  the  Government  how  could 
it  long  subsist  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
1719 

The  Governor  had  called  the  new  Assembly  according 
to  his  instructions  to  be  chosen  at  Charles  Town.  But 
now  Colonel  Rhett  and  the  Chief  Justice  found  them- 
selves mistaken  in  supposing  they  could  continue  their  old 
influence  to  have  such  members  chosen  as  they  desired, 
even  though  the  election  was  held  for  their  convenience 
in  the  town  and  under  their  immediate  supervision.  It 
proved  quite  the  contrary.  They  could  not  get  so  much 
as  a  single  member  chosen  in  their  interest.  The  people 
were  so  incensed  against  the  Lords  Proprietors  that  it 
had  become  dangerous  to  say  anything  in  their  favor. 

To  complicate  matters  still  further,  a  rupture  having 
taken  place  just  before  this  between  the  courts  of  Great 
Britain  and  Spain,  a  project  for  attacking  South  Carolina 
and  the  Island  of  Providence  was  formed  at  Havana. 
The  time  for  the  meeting  of  the  new  Assembly  had  not 
yet  arrived ;  but,  learning  of  .this  threatened  invasion, 
Governor  Johnson  felt  himself  obliged  to  call  his  Council 
and  such  of  the  newly  elected  members  of  the  Assembly 
as  he  could  get  together.  These  he  informed  of  the 
advices  he  had  received,  and  appealed  to  them  to  con- 
sider the  ill  condition  of  the  fortifications  and  the  neces- 
sity of  immediately  repairing  them.  This  he  proposed 
to  do  by  voluntary  subscription  until  the  Assembly  could 
provide  for  the  work,  and  to  show  an  example  he  himself 

645 


646  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

subscribed  <£500.  The  members  of  the  Assembly  replied 
that  there  was  no  occasion  for  this  irregular  and  ineffi- 
cient means  of  providing  the  funds  necessary;  that  the 
Duty  act  would  amply  supply  them.  The  Governor  re- 
minded them  that  that  law  was  repealed.  To  this  answer 
was  made  that  the  Public  Receiver  was  ordered  to  sue 
any  man  that  refused  to  pay  as  that  law  directed,  its 
repeal  not  being  recognized.  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Trott 
here  interposed  and  announced  that  if  any  such  action 
was  brought  in  his  courts^  —  for  so  he  always  spoke  of  the 
courts  of  the  province, — he  would  give  judgment  for  the 
defendant.  The  conference  broke  up  without  doing  any- 
thing, the  members  of  the  Assembly  determining  rather 
to  run  the  risk  of  the  Spaniards  than  to  acknowledge  a 
right  in  the  Proprietors  of  repealing  their  laws.  Failing 
to  obtain  support  from  the  civil  branch  of  his  govern- 
ment, the  Governor  turned  to  the  military.  He  sum- 
moned the  field-officers  of  the  militia,  to  give  them  orders 
for  a  review  of  their  regiments  and  to  determine  upon 
a  rendezvous  in  case  of  the  approach  of  the  Spaniards. 
The  officers  received  their  orders  as  usual,  and  mustered 
their  regiments  at  the  time  appointed.  This  afforded  the 
very  opportunity  the  leaders  of  the  people  had  desired. 
Articles  of  an  association  had  been  prepared  in  advance, 
and  when  the  militia  assembled,  it  was  signed  almost 
without  exception.  The  whole  province  was  brought 
into  a  confederacy  against  the  Proprietors  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  Governor. 

Among  those  elected  to  the  new  House  of  Assembly 
was  Alexander  Skene,  who  had  been  in  the  Council,  and 
was  one  of  those  who  had  been  removed  by  the  Proprie- 
tors for  taking  part  in  the  remonstrance  against  Trott 
and  Rhett.  Mr.  Skene  had  come  from  Barbadoes,  where 
he  had  held  a  patent  office,  —  the  first  of  such  appoint- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  647 

ments  in  the  government  of  that  island,  —  that  of  Secretary 
of  the  colony  and  private  Secretary  of  the  Governor.  A 
dispute  had  arisen  between  the  Governor  and  himself  as 
to  his  fees,  upon  which  the  Governor  had  claimed  the 
right  to  nominate  his  own  private  Secretary.  The  dispute 
had  lasted  several  years,  but  had  been  ultimately  decided 
in  Mr.  Skene's  favor,  and  Queen  Anne's  letters  manda- 
tory had  given  him  possession  of  all  his  rights  and  per- 
quisites as  private  as  well  as  public  Secretary. ^  It  might 
have  been  supposed  that  the  Carolina  colonists  had  enough 
experience  in  controversies  to  have  been  quite  competent 
to  manage  such  a  business,  but  Mr.  Skene,  coming  from 
Barbadoes,  where  he  had  so  successfully  withstood  the 
Governor,  ''  was  looked  upon  as  a  man  that  understood 
public  affairs  very  well."  Considering  himself  ill-used  by 
the  Proprietors,  he  readily  became  a  leader  in  this  move- 
ment, and  was  zealous  and  active  in  pulling  down  the 
tottering  form  of  their  government.  His  experience  and 
resolute  character  fitted  him  for  planning  and  consum- 
mating a  revolution,  and  he  exerted  especial  influence  in 
the  private  meetings  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly. 

The  first  notice  the  Governor  had  of  the  certainty  of 
the  movement  was  by  a  letter  of  Mr.  Skene,  Colonel 
Logan,  and  Major  Blakeway,  dated  November  28,  1719, 
in  which  they  wrote  they  had  no  doubt  that  he  had  heard 
that  the  whole  province  had  entered  into  an  association  to 
stand  by  their  rights  and  privileges  and  to  get  rid  of  the 
oppression  and  arbitrary  dealings  of  the  Lords  Proprietors. 
They  assured  him  personally  of  the  greatest  deference  and 
respect,  and  informed  him  that  a  committee  of  the  people's 
representatives  were  last  night  appointed  to  wait  upon 
his  Honor  that  morning,  to  acquaint  him  that  they  were 
come  to  the  resolution  to  have  no  regard  to  the  Lords 
1  Mist,  qf  Barbadoes  (Foyer),  171,  190. 


648  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Proprietors'  officers  nor  other  administration ;  and  withal 
to  beg  his  Honor  would  hold  the  government  for  the  King 
till  his  Majesty's  pleasure  be  known.  They  went  on  to 
say  that  the  great  value  the  whole  country  expresses  for 
his  Honor's  person  makes  them  desirous  of  having  nobody 
but  himself  to  govern  them. 

"  That  we  are  of  opinion,"  they  said,  "  that  your  Honor 
may  take  the  Government  upon  you,  upon  the  offer  of  the 
People  for  the  King  and  represent  the  Proprietors^  That 
rather  than  the  whole  Country  should  be  in  Confusion  and 
want  a  Governing  Power  you  held  it  for  their  Lordships; 
tho'  you  were  oblig'd  to  comply  with  the  Province  who 
were  unanimously  of  opinion  they  would  have  no  Proprie- 
tors government." 

They  said  they  could  wish  for  a  longer  and  better  oppor- 
tunity to  explain  the  affair  to  him,  but  it  was  impossible, 
as  the  gentlemen  would  be  with  him  in  two  hours  at  the 
furthest. 

The  Governor,  Avho  was  at  his  plantation  about  five 
miles  off  when  he  received  this  letter,  came  immediately 
to  town  and  summoned  such  of  his  Council  as  he  could 
get  together  (these  were  Mr.  Izard,  Judge  Trott,  Mr. 
Hart,  Mr.  de  La  Consiliere,  Colonel  Bull,  Mr.  Butler,  and 
Mr.  Jacob  Satur),  and  informed  them  what  he  had  heard 
and  that  he  had  met  Mr.  Skene  and  Mr.  Brailsford,  who 
told  him  that  those  who  were  to  have  waited  upon  him 
had  changed  their  minds  and  gone  to  their  respective 
homes.  He  asked  the  Council's  opinion  what  was  proper 
to  be  done.  They  unanimously  advised  him  that,  con- 
sidering the  parties  had  altered  their  resolution  of  wait- 
ing on  their  Governor  and  gone  home,  no  further  notice 
should  be  taken  of  their  proceedings  until  the  Assembly 
met  and  the  matter  should  be  revived. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  members  of  the  new  House 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  649 

continued  privately  to  meet  and  to  strengthen  and 
establish  the  association,  which  now  comprised  almost 
every  one  in  the  province,  "  except  some  few  who  more 
immediately  belonged  to  the  Proprietors."  Having  thus 
fortified  themselves  by  the  consent  of  the  people,  they 
met  according  to  the  tenor  of  their  writs  on  the  10th  of 
December,  1719,  and  the  Governor  sending  them  a 
message,  as  usual,  that  he  was  ready  with  the  Council  to 
receive  them  and  to  order  them  to  choose  a  Speaker,  they 
came  in  a  body ;  whereupon  Mr.  Middleton  delivered 
himself  in  the  following  manner  :  — 

"  I  am  order'd  by  the  Representatives  of  the  People 
here  present  to  tell  you,  that  according  to  your  Honour's 
order  we  are  come  to  wait  upon  you ;  I  am  further 
Order'd  to  acquaint  you,  that  we  own  your  Honour  as 
our  Governour,  you  being  approv'd  by  the  King  ;  and  as 
there  was  once  in  this  Province  a  legal  Council  Represent- 
ing the  Proprietors  as  their  Deputies,  which  Constitution 
being  now  alter'd,  we  do  not  look  upon  the  Gentlemen 
present  to  be  a  legal  Council ;  so  I  am  order'd  to  tell  you. 
That  the  Representatives  do  disown  them  as  such  and  will 
not  act  with  them  on  any  Account." 

This  speech  was  delivered  in  writing  at  the  Governor's 
desire  and  signed  by  Mr.  Middleton,  as  President,  and 
twenty-two  more  of  the  Assembly. 

Anticipating  a  dissolution,  this  body  had  resolved,  prob- 
ably before  presenting  the  address,  that  the  three  laws 
which  the  Proprietors  had  repealed  when  they  had  ap- 
pointed the  new  Council  —  to  wit,  (1)  the  act  declaring 
the  right  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  nominate  a  Public 
Receiver;  (2)  the  act  laying  an  imposition  on  importa- 
tions; and  (3)  the  act  for  electing  the  representatives  by 
parishes  —  were  still  in  force  and  could  not  be  repealed  but 
by  the  General  Assembly.     They  also  resolved:  — 


650  HISTORY    OF    SOUTH   CAROLINA 

"  That  the  Writs  whereby  we  the  Representatives  here 
met  were  elected  are  illegal :  First  Because  they  are  sign'd 
by  such  a  Council  as  we  conceive,  the  Proprietors  have  not 
a  power  to  appoint. 

"Secondly  for  that  their  Council  does  consist  of  a 
greater  Number  of  Members  than  the  Proprietors  them- 
selves are  which  we  believe  is  contrary  to  the  Design  and 
original  Intent  of  their  Charter,  and  approaching  too  near 
the  Method  taken  by  his  Majesty  and  his  Predecessors  in 
his  Plantations  whom  they  might  not  pretend  to  imitate 
or  follow.  His  Majesty  not  being  confin'd  to  any  Number 
in  his  Council  in  his  Plantations  but  as  he  thinks  fit  him- 
self; but  the  Proprietors  as  subjects,  we  believe  are  bound 
by  a  Charter. 

"  Thirdly  were  there  no  Doubt  of  the  Legality  of  the 
Council  yet  according  to  the  Proprietors  Instructions, 
there  was  not  a  sufficient  Number  to  dissolve  the  last 
Assemblj^,  one  of  the  Council  Signing  being  a  Foreigner, 
not  Naturalized,  and  consequently  not  capable  of  doing 
any  Act  of  Government  in  any  of  the  British  Dominions 
and  expressly  contrary  to  the  Lords  Proprietors  Charter ; 
and  a  high  Act  of  Presumption  in  them  thus  to  impose 
upon  His  Majesty's  Free  People  of  the  Province  for  the 
aforesaid  Reasons." 

They  further  resolved :  "  That  we  cannot  Act  as  an 
Assembly  but  as  a  Convention  delegated  by  the  People 
to  prevent  the  utter  Ruin  of  this  Government  if  not  the 
Loss  of  the  Province,  until  His  Majesty's  Pleasure  be 
known. 

"That  the  Lords  Proprietors  have  by  such  their  Pro- 
ceedings unhing'd  the  Frame  of  Government  and  for- 
feited their  Right  to  the  same ;  and  that  an  Address  be 
prepared  to  desire  the  Honourable  Robert  Johnson  Esq. 
our  present  Governor  to  take  the  Government  upon  him 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  651 

in  the  King's  name,  and  to  Continue  the  Administration 
thereof  until  His  Majesty's  Pleasure  be  known." 

These  bold  proceedings  were  well  calculated  to  alarm 
the  Governor,  and  there  was  consternation  in  his  Council, 
and  doubt  as  to  their  course  ;  were  rough  or  gentle  means 
to  be  used  ?  Trott  quailed  before  the  people,  and,  with  a 
majority  of  the  Council,  advised  that  the  defection  was 
too  general  to  admit  the  use  of  any  other  means  than  mild 
expostulations.  If  these  failed,  then  the  Assembly  might 
be  dissolved,  which  would  make  them  disperse,  and  so  put 
an  end  to  the  dispute  for  the  present.  But,  in  that  case, 
how  could  money  be  raised  to  prepare  for  the  Spaniards, 
who  were  daily  expected?  The  Lords  Proprietors  had 
repealed  the  duty  law,  which  repeal  they  were  bound  to 
respect.  The  result  of  these  deliberations  was  a  message 
to  the  Commons  that  the  Governor  and  Council  desired 
a  conference  with  them.  The  Commons  answered  that 
they  would  not  receive  any  message  or  paper  from  the 
Governor  in  conjunction  with  the  gentlemen  he  called  his 
Council.  Thus  constrained,  the  Governor  sent  for  them 
in  his  own  name,  and  delivered  them  a  long  and  earnest 
speech,  pleading  and  arguing  with  them,  and  threatening 
them ;  but  all  in  vain.  The  Assembly  was  neither  to  be 
shaken  by  persuasion,  nor  intimidated  by  threats.  In  the 
course  of  this  speech,  the  Governor  said  :  — 

"  I  do  require  and  Demand  of  you  therefore  and  expect 
you  to  Answer  me  in  plain  and  positive  Terms  Whether 
you  own  the  Authority  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  as  Lords 
of  this  Province,  and  having  Authority  to  Administer  or 
Authorise  others  to  Administer  the  Government  thereof ; 
saving  the  Allegiance  of  Them  and  the  People  to  His  Most 
Sacred  Majesty  King  George?  Or  Whether  you  abso- 
lutely renounce  all  Obedience  to  Them  and  Those  Com- 
mission'd  and  Authoris'd  by  Them?     Or  Whether   you 


652  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

admit  their  General  Power  and  only  dispute  that  particu- 
lar Branch  of  their  Authority  in  Constituting  a  Council 
after  the  Manner  they  have  now  done?  " 

The  Commons  did  not  long  consider  this  lengthy  speech, 
which  was  delivered  to  them  in  writing,  but  soon  returned 
with  the  following  message  :  — 

"We  have  already  acquainted  you.  That  we  would  not 
receive  any  Message  or  Paper  from  your  Honour  in  Con- 
junction with  the  Gentlemen  you  are  pleas'd  to  call  your 
Council ;  therefore  we  must  now  again  repeat  the  same, 
and  beg  Leave  to  tell  you,  That  the  Paper  your  Honour 
read  and  deliver'd  to  us  we  take  no  Notice  of,  nor  shall 
we  give  any  farther  Answer  to  it,  but  in  G-reat  Britain.^'' 

Immediately  after,  the  Commons,  however,  returned 
with  another  address  to  the  Governor,  assuring  him  of  the 
universal  affection,  deference,  and  respect  the  inhabitants 
throughout  the  whole  country  bore  to  his  Honor's  person, 
and  their  desire  for  a  continuance  of  his  gentle  and  good 
administration ;  "  and  since  we,"  they  said,  "  w^ho  are 
entrusted  with  and  are  the  Assertors  of  their  Rights  and 
Liberties  are  unanimously  of  Opinion,  that  no  Person  is 
fitter  to  Govern  so  Loyal  and  obedient  a  People  to  his 
Sacred  Majesty  King  George  so  we  more  earnestly  desire 
and  entreat  your  Honour  to  take  upon  you  the  Govern- 
ment of  this  Province  in  his  Majesty's  name  'till  his  Pleas- 
ure shall  be  known,  by  which  Means  we  are  convinc'd 
that  this  (at  present)  unfortunate  Colony  may  flourish  as 
well  as  those  who  feel  the  happy  Influence  of  his  Majesty's 
immediate  Care. 

"  As  the  Well  being  and  Preservation  of  the  Province," 
they  continued,  "  depends  greatly  on  your  Honour's  com- 
plying with  our  Requests  so  we  flatter  ourselves  that  you 
who  have  express'd  so  tender  a  Regard  for  it  on  all  Occa- 
sions and  particularly  in  Hazarding  your  own  Person  in 


tJKDER   THE   tROPKlETARY   GOVERNMENT  Qb^ 

an  Expedition  against  the  Pirates  for  its  Defence,  an 
Example  seldom  found  in  Governors  ;  so  we  hope,  sir, 
that  you  will  exert  yourself  at  this  Juncture  for  its  Sup- 
port ;  and  we  promise  your  Honour  on  our  Parts  the  most 
faithful  Assistance  of  Persons  duly  sensible  of  your  Hon- 
our's great  Goodness,  and  big  with  the  Hopes  and  Expec- 
tations of  his  Majesty's  Protection  and  Countenance. 

"And  we  farther  beg  Leave  to  assure  your  Honour  that 
we  will  in  the  most  Dutiful  Manner  Address  His  Most 
Sacred  Majesty  King  George  for  the  Continuance  of 
your  Government  over  us  under  whom  we  doubt%  not  to 
be  a  Happy  People." 

To  this  appeal,  which  was  doubtless  made  in  all  sin- 
cerity, for  both  the  present  Governor  and  his  father.  Sir 
Nathaniel  Johnson,  were  endeared  to  the  people  by  distin- 
guished and  heroic  services,  the  Governor  returned  the 
following  answer  :  — 

"  Gentlemen  —  I  am  Oblidg'd  to  you  for  your  good 
Opinion  of  me  ;  but  I  hold  my  Commission  from  the  true 
and  absolute  Lords  and  Proprietors  of  this  Province  who 
recommended  me  to  His  Majesty,  and  I  have  His  Appro- 
bation ;  it  is  by  that  Commission  and  Power  I  Act,  and  I 
know  of  no  Power  or  Authority  can  dispossess  me  of  the 
same,  but  only  those  who  gave  me  those  Authorities.  In 
Subordination  to  them  I  shall  always  Act,  and  to  my 
utmost  maintain  their  Lordships  just  Power  and  Preroga- 
tives without  encroaching  on  the  People's  Rights  and 
Privileges.  I  do  not  expect  or  desire  any  Favour  from 
you  only  that  of  seriously  taking  into  your  Consideration 
the  approaching  Danger  of  a  Foreign  Enemy  and  the 
Steps  you  are  taking  to  involve  yourselves  aiid  this  Prov- 
ince in  Anarchy  and  Confusion." 

That  afternoon  the  Governor  issued  a  proclamation 
dissolving   the   Assembly ;    but  the   Convention,  as   the 


654  HISTORY   O^   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Assembly  now  called  themselves,  following  the  precedent 
established  in  England  by  Parliament  upon  the  abdication 
of  James,  ordered  the  proclamation  torn  from  the  Mar- 
shal's hands,  and  issued  a  proclamation  in  their  own  names, 
which  directed  all  officers,  civil  and  military,  to  hold  their 
offices  and  employments  until  further-  orders  from  them. 
Finding  that  Governor  Johnson  would  not  come  into 
their  movement,  they  resolved  to  have  a  Governor  of 
their  own  choosing,  and  Colonel  James  Moore,  who  was 
commander-in-chief  of  the  militia  in  the  late  Indian  War, 
but  had  lately  been  removed  for  his  active  opposition  to 
the  authority  of  the  Proprietors,  was  chosen. 

On  Monday,  the  21st  of  December,  1719,  Governor 
Johnson,  having  been  informed  that  the  Convention  in- 
tended to  proclaim  their  Governor  in  the  King's  name, 
came  to  town  and  wrote  circular  letters  to  his  Council 
to  meet  him  ;  but  they  did  not  respond.  The  Governor 
had  previously  had  a  conference  with  Colonel  Parris,  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  militia  of  the  town,  upon  whose 
support  he  relied,  and  because  of  the  advice  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Havana,  had  ordered  the  town  companies  to 
be  reviewed  on  this  day,  the  21st.  Finding,  however, 
that  the  members  of  the  Convention  had  availed  them- 
selves of  this  opportunity,  and  had  determined  upon  that 
day  to  proclaim  their  Governor,  when  the  people  should 
come  together  with  arms  in  their  hands,  he  had,  on  the 
Saturday  before,  countermanded  the  order  for  the  review, 
and  had  given  particular  orders  to  Colonel  Parris  that  he 
should  not  suffer  a  drum  to  be  beat  in  the  town.  The 
Governor  understood  that  he  had  assurances  from  Colonel 
Parris  that  his  orders  should  be  obeyed.  He  was  greatly 
surprised,  therefore,  when,  upon  coming  into  town  early 
on  Monday  morning,  he  found  the  militia  drawn  up  in 
the  market-place,  with  colors  flying  at  the  forts  and  on 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  655 

all  the  ships  in  the  harbor,  and  the  people,  with  great 
solemnity,  preparing  for  proclaiming  their  Governor. 

Upon  this.  Governor  Johnson,  amiable  as  he  was,  lost 
his  temper  and  with  it  his  dignity.  Advancing  to  Colonel 
Parris,  he  asked  how  he  durst  appear  in  arms  contrary  to 
his  orders  ?  and  commanded  him  in  the  King's  name  to 
disperse  his  men.  Colonel  Parris  answered  he  was  obey- 
ing the  orders  of  the  Convention,  and  the  Governor  ap- 
proaching, he  ordered  his  men  to  present  their  muskets 
and  bade  him  stand  off  at  his  peril.  Governor  Johnson 
hoped  that  some  of  the  gentlemen  would  have  joined  him, 
but  the  defection  was  so  general  that  there  was  hardly  a 
man  not  in  arms,  and  only  one  of  his  Council  came  near 
him.  This  was  Mr.  Lloyd,  and  he,  it  afterward  appeared, 
was  sent  by  the  Convention  party,  under  the  guise  of 
friendship,  to  be  on  hand  to  prevent  any  hot  action  to 
which  the  Governor  might  be  provoked.  Two  days  after- 
wards Mr.  Lloyd  was  sworn  into  the  new  Council.  Even 
Trott  and  Rhett,  in  this  extremity,  forsook  the  Governor 
and  kept  at  a  distance,  the  silent  and  inactive  spectators 
of  the  ruin  of  the  cause  of  the  Proprietors  they  had  done 
so  much  to  promote. 

The  members  of  the  Convention  now  appeared  and 
marched  to  the  Fort,  and  there  proclaimed  James  Moore 
Governor  of  the  province,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  the  populace. 

Upon  their  return,  they  proceeded  to  the  election  of 
twelve  councillors,  after  the  manner  of  the  Royal  Govern- 
ment. Of  these  Sir  Hovenden  Walker  was  made  Presi- 
dent. ^     The  government  thus  established  consisted  of  a 

1  Sir  Hovenden  Walker  had  been  an  admiral  in  the  British  service  and 
had  commanded  the  naval  part  of  the  unsuccessful  expedition  sent  out 
by  St.  John  (Bolingbroke)  in  1711  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.  England 
in  the  Eighteenth  Century  (Lecky),  vol.  I,  115.  He  had  been  Deputy 
Governor  of  North  Carolina.  Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.^  vol.  I,  529. 
This  is  his  only  public  appearance  in  South  Carolina. 


6b^  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

Governor,  Council,  and  Convention  ;  but  the  Convention 
soon  voted  themselves  an  Assembly,  and,  as  such,  made 
laws  and  assumed  the  power  of  appointing  all  officers. 
Nicholas  Trott  was  immediately  removed,  and  Richard 
AUein  was  made  Chief  Justice.  A  Secretary  and  Provost 
Marshal  were  appointed,  and  it  was  declared  that  no  one 
should  be  capable  of  bearing  an  office  in  the  province  who 
owned  the  authority  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  except  as 
to  such  offices  as  related  to  their  own  particular  revenues 
and  property.  The  persons  holding  such  offices  were  Mr. 
Rhett  and  Mr.  Yonge,  the  Receiver  of  the  Proprietors' 
revenues  and  the  Surveyor  General  of  the  Proprietors' 
lands.  Rhett  thus  escaped  personally  the  effects  of  the 
revolution,  which  his  conduct  had  done  so  much  to  bring 
about.  Colonel  John  Barnwell  was  chosen  agent  for  the 
province,  and  sent  to  England  with  instructions  and  or- 
ders to  apply  to  the  King  and  lay  a  statement  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  people  before  his  Majesty,  beseeching  him 
to  take  the  province  under  his  immediate  care. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  Convention  published  the  fol- 
lowing declaration  of  the  causes  which  had  led  to  the 
revolution  :  ^  — 

"  Whereas  the  Proprietors  of  this  province  have  of  late  assumed 
to  themselves  an  arbitrary  and  illegal  power  of  repealing  such  laws  as 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  settlement  have  thought  fit  to  make  for 
the  preservation  and  defence  thereof  and  acted  in  many  other  things 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  England  and  the  charter  to  them  and  us  free- 
men granted ;  whereby  we  are  deprived  for  those  measures  we  have 
taken  for  the  defence  of  the  settlement,  being  the  south  west  frontier 
of  his  Majesty's  territories  in  America,  and  thereby  left  naked  to 
the  attacks  of  our  inveterate  enemies  and  next  door  neighbors  the 
Spaniards  from  whom  through  the  divine  Providence  we  have  had 
a  miraculous  deliverance,  and  daily  expect  to  be  invaded  by  them 
according  to  the  repeated  advices  we  have  from  time  to  time  received 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  276. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  657 

from  several  places  :  And  whereas  pursuant  to  the  mstructions  and 
authorities  to  us  given,  and  trust  in  us  reposed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
this  settlement,  and  in  execution  of  the  resolutions  by  us  made  we 
did  in  due  form  apply  ourselves  in  a  whole  body  by  an  address  to  the 
honourable  Robert  Johnson  appointed  Governor  of  this  province  by 
the  Lords  Proprietors  and  desired  him  in  the  name  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  province  to  take  upon  him  the  government  of  the  same,  and  in 
behalf  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Britain  France  and  Ireland 
until  his  Majesty's  pleasure  had  been  known  which  the  said  Governor 
refusing  to  do,  exclusive  of  the  pretended  power  of  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors over  the  settlement,  has  put  us  under  the  necessity  of  applying 
to  some  other  person  to  take  upon  him  as  Governor  the  administration 
of  all  the  affairs  civil  and  military  within  the  settlement  in  the  name 
and  for  the  service  of  his  most  sacred  Majesty,  as  well  as  making 
treaties  alliances  and  leagues  with  any  nation  of  the  Indians  until  his 
Majesty's  pleasure  be  further  known :  And  whereas  James  Moore  a 
person  well  affected  to  his  present  Majesty  and  also  zealous  for  the 
interest  of  the  settlement  now  in  a  sinking  condition  has  been  pre- 
vailed with  pursuant  to  such  our  application  to  take  upon  him  in  the 
King's  name  and  for  the  King's  sei*vice  and  safety  of  the  settlement 
the  above  mentioned  charge  and  trust:. We  therefore  whose  names 
are  hereunto  subscribed,  the  Representatives  and  delegates  of  his 
Majesty's  liege  people  and  free  born  subjects  of  the  said  settlement 
now  met  in  convention  at  CharlesTown,  in  their  names  and  in  behalf 
of  his  sacred  Majesty  George  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  Great  Britain 
France  and  Ireland,  in  consideration  of  the  former  great  confidence 
in  his  firm  loyalty  to  our  most  gracious  King  George,  as  well  as  in  his 
conduct,  courage,  and  other  great  abilities ;  do  hereby  declare  the 
said  James  Moore  his  Majesty's  Governor  of  this  settlement,  invested 
with  all  the  powers  and  authorities  belonging  and  appertaining  to 
any  of  his  Majesty's  governors  in  America  till  his  Majesty's  pleasure 
herein  shall  be  further  known.  And  we  do  hereby  for  ourselves  and  in 
the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  settlement,  as 
their  representatives  and  delegates,  promise  and  oblige  ourselves  most 
solemnly  to  obey  maintain  assist  and  support  the  same  James  Moore 
in  the  administration  of  all  affairs  civil  and  military  within  the  settle- 
ment as  well  as  in  the  execution  of  all  his  functions  aforesaid  as 
Governor  for  his  sacred  Majesty  King  George.  And  further  we  do 
expect  and  command  that  all  officers  both  civil  and  military  within 
the  settlement  do  pay  him  all  duty  and  obedience  as  his  Majesty's 
Governor,  as  they  shall  answer  to  the  contrary  at  their  utmost  peril. 
2u 


658  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Given  under  our  hand  at  this  convention  this  21"  day  of  December 
1719." 

Governor  Johnson,  after  this  solemn  and  public  decla- 
ration, recognized  that  the  government  of  the  Proprietors 
was  totally  overthrown,  and  that  the  current  of  popular 
sentiment  was  too  violent  and  strong  to  withstand.  His 
onl}^  hope  for  their  Lordships  now  was  that  the  revolu- 
tionists would  not  long  remain  in  a  state  of  union,  har- 
mony, and  peace  among  themselves ;  but  would  soon 
divide  again  into  the  old  parties.  The  first  unpopular 
step  of  their  Governor  might  create  disturbance  and  dis- 
affection. His  policy,  therefore,  was  quietly  to  Avait  for 
such  occurrences,  ready  to  take  advantage  of  them  when- 
ever they  should  appear.  In  the  meantime,  he  called 
together  the  civil  officers  of  the  Proprietors,  and  ordered 
them  to  secure  the  public  records,  and  to  close  their 
offices.^ 

His  next  step  was  to  report  an  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings to  the  Proprietors.  This  he  did  in  a  carefully  pre- 
pared statement  which  he  transmitted  to  their  Lordships. 
He  told  them  that  the  colonists  had  long  labored  under 
difficulties  and  hardships  by  debts  contracted  in  the  Indian 
wars,  and  in  protecting  their  trade  against  pirates.  He 
spoke  of  the  unhappy  differences  between  their  Lordships 
and  the  people  about  the  privileges  of  their  charter.  He 
told  them  that  some  of  the  richest  of  the  inhabitants  had 
persuaded  the  rest  that  neither  they  themselves  nor  their 
posterity  could  ever  be  safe  in  their  persons,  or  secure  in 
their  properties,  without  the  protection  of  the  Crown ; 
that  they  had," therefore,  with  one  accord,  disclaimed  and 
renounced  all  obedience  to  their  Lordships,  and  put  them- 
selves under  the  care  and  government  of  the  King ;  that 
he,  though  earnestly  solicited  by  them,  had  refused  to 
1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  278. 


UNDER  THE  PROtRIEtARY   GOVERNMENT  659 

govern  them  in  any  other  way  than  as  commissioned  and 
appointed  by  the  Lords  Proprietors ;  that  the  people  had, 
thereupon,  shaken  off  his  authority,  and  chosen  another 
Governor  for  themselves  in  the  name  and  in  behalf  of  the 
King,  He  was  in  no  wise  responsible  for  the  revolution. 
It  had  not  been  occasioned  by  his  imprudence  or  malad- 
ministration, and,  therefore,  he  hoped  whatever  might  be 
the  issue,  that  their  Lordships  would  use  their  influence 
to  continue  him  in  the  government  of  the  province. 

Having  thus  performed  his  duty  to  the  Proprietors,  he 
wrote  also  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  giving 
them  a  similar  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  people 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  Proprietary  Government,  and 
made  an  appeal  to  them  that  if  they  accepted  the  govern- 
ment for  his  Majesty  that  he  should  be  commissioned  by 
them  as  Governor. 

"  That  he  apprehending  himself  bound  in  Honour  to 
Govern  Those  People  in  no  other  Way  than  as  he  was 
Commission'd  by  the  Lords  Proprietors  and  instructed  by 
his  Majesty  to  whom  he  had  always  been  a  Faithful  and 
Loyal  subject,  and  the  people  having  for  that  Cause  dis- 
own'd  his  Authority,  with  that  of  the  said  Lords  he 
humbly  hop'd  their  Lordships  would  interest  themselves 
so  far  that  if  His  Majesty  thought  fit  to  take  the  Govern- 
ment into  His  own  Hands,  he  might  be  honour'd  with 
his  Majestys  immediate  Commission,  or  otherwise  that  he 
might  be  restor'd  to  his  Government  as  formerly  by  his 
Majestys  special  Command ;  the  present  Disturbances  not 
being  in  any  wise  owing  to  his  Male-Administration  as 
might  appear  by  the  Address  of  the  People  to  him,  a  copy 
of  which  he  enclos'd  them."^ 

In  the  meanwhile  the  new  government  proceeded  with 

1  Proceedings  of  the  People  (Yonge) ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  11,  184 ; 
Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  281-282. 


660  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  business  of  the  country.  A  new  duty  law,  and  others 
for  raising  money  to  defray  the  various  expenses  of  the 
government,  were  passed.  To  their  new  Governor  they 
voted  X2500,  and  to  their  Chief  Justice  X800  current 
money  as  yearly  salaries.  To  their  agent  in  England 
.£1000  sterling  was  transmitted,  and  to  defray  those  and 
the  other  expenses  of  the  government  an  act  was  passed 
laying  a  tax  on  lands  and  negroes.  In  short,  says  Hewatt, 
the  popular  Assembly  imposed  such  burdens  on  their  con- 
stituents as  under  the  Proprietary  Government  would  have 
been  deemed  intolerable  grievances. 

Governor  Johnson  and  some  of  his  party  refused  to  pay 
this  tax,  as  they  did  not  recognize  the  authority  of  the 
Assembly  which  imposed  it.  On  account  of  his  peculiar 
position  Governor  Johnson  himself  was  exempted ;  but 
it  was  rigidly  enforced  against  all  other  persons.  Though 
unable  actively  to  oppose  the  new  government.  Governor 
Johnson  omitted  no  opportunity  to  throw  every  obstacle 
in  its  way.  He  would  have  most  seriously  embarrassed 
its  operations  had  Rhett  acted  with  him  in  the  interests 
of  the  Proprietors ;  but  Rhett  was  now  making  terms 
with  their  opponents. 

nJ  Colonel  Rhett  was  not  only  the  Proprietors'  Receiver 
General,  but  also  the  Comptroller  of  the  King's  customs. 
To  him,  therefore.  Governor  Johnson  wrote,  proposing 
that  as  all  masters  of  ships  were,  under  the  laws  of  trade, 
obliged  to  take  out  their  clearance  from  him  as  the  Comp- 
troller of  customs,  he  might  refuse  to  allow  any  ship  to 
be  cleared  by  the  custom-house  officers  until  the  masters 
had  paid  their  duty  to  him  as  Public  Receiver.  By  this 
means  the  fees  due  to  the  Governor  and  Secretary  would 
have  found  their  way  in  their  regular  channel,  as  the 
masters  of  vessels  would  most  readily  have  gone  where 
they  could  have  obtained  the  most  authentic  clearances. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  661 

But  Rhett  was  no  friend  to  Governor  Johnson,  and  was 
besides,  at  this  time,  looking  to  his  interests  under  the 
new  government ;  so  he  refused  to  act  as  Johnson  desired 
in  this  matter,  and  for  this  essential  service  he  was  at 
once  made,  by  the  revolutionary  government.  Overseer  of 
the  Repairs  and  Fortifications  in  Charles  Town,  —  a  most 
lucrative  position,  and  at  the  same  time  accepted  the 
position  from  Governor  Moore  of  Lieutenant  General  of 
the  Militia.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  he  still  continued  to 
maintain  his  credit  with  the  Lords  Proprietors,  to  whom 
he  wrote  on  the  occasion  to  assure  them  that  he  accepted 
the  commission  from  Mr.  Moore  only  because  it  might 
give  him  an  opportunity  to  bring  the  people  over  again  to 
their  interest.  The  Proprietors  believed  him,  and  sent 
him  a  letter  of  thanks  and  a  confirmation  of  his  former 
commissions  from  them.^ 

And  now  came  further  and  certain  advices  that  the 
Spaniards  were  actually  fitting  out  a  fleet  at  Havana  to 
attack  Providence  and  South  Carolina  ;  but  it  was  uncer- 
tain which  place  they  would  first  assail.  The  new  gov- 
ernment proclaimed  martial  law,  and  ordered  all  men  to 
repair  in  arms  to  Charles  Town.  Governor  Johnson 
seized  the  opportunity  of  making  one  more  appeal  to  the 
people,  and  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Conven- 
tion, who  now  styled  themselves  an  Assembly  :^ — 

"  Gentlemen :  I  Flatter  myself  that  the  Invasion  which 
at  present  threatens  the  Province  has  awaken'd  a  Thought 
in  you  of  the  Necessity  there  is  of  the  Forces  acting  under 
a  Lawful  Authority  and  Commission.  The  Inconveniences 
and  Confusion  of  not  admitting  it  are  so  obvious  I  need 
not  mention  them.  I  have  hitherto  born  the  Indignities 
put  upon  me,  and  the  Loss  I  sustain  by  being  put  out  of 

1  Proceedings  of  the  People  (Yonge)  ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  186. 
^Ibid.,  187. 


662  HISTORY   OF    SOUTH    CAROLINA 

my  Government  with  as  much  Temper  as  the  nature  of 
the  Thing  will  allow  of  'till  such  time  as  His  Majesty s 
Pleasure  shall  be  known ;  but  to  have  another  assume 
my  Authority  when  Danger  threatens  the  Province  and 
Action  is  expected,  and  to  be  depriv'd  of  the  Opportunity 
of  Serving  the  Public  in  my  Station  as  I  am  indispensably 
bound  to  do  upon  such  Occasions  I  being  answerable  to 
the  King  for  any  Neglect  regarding  the  Welfare  of  the 
Province  is  what  I  cannot  set  down  patiently  with. 

"  Gentlemen,"  continued  Governor  Johnson,  "I  am  will- 
ing to  consult  and  advise  with  you  for  the  Good  and 
Safety  of  the  Province  in  this  Time  of  imminent  Danger 
as  a  convention  of  the  people  as  you  first  call'd  yourselves. 
Nor  do  I  see  in  this  present  Juncture  of  Affairs  any  Occa- 
sion of  Formalities  in  our  Proceedings  or  that  I  explain 
by  whose  Authority  I  Act  in  Grants  of  Commissions  or 
other  Public  Orders.  Mr.  Moor^s  Commission  you  have 
given  him  does  not  pretend  to  say  it  is  deriv'd  from  the 
King.  You  have  already  confess'd  I  am  invested  with 
some  authority  you  do  approve  of,  and  that  is  enough. 

"  What  I  insist  upon  is  To  be  allow'd  to  Act  as  Gov- 
ernor because  I  am  approv'd  by  the  King ;  I  do  not 
apprehend  at  present  there  is  a  Necessity  of  Acting  any- 
thing but  what  relates  to  Military  Affairs ;  and  I  do 
believe  People  will  be  better  satisfi'd  and  more  ready  to 
advance  Necessaries,  to  trust  the  Public,  and  to  obey  my 
Commands  (by  Virtue  of  the  King's  Authority  which  I 
have)  if  left  to  their  Liberty,  than  any  other  Person  in 
this  Province  and  in  a  short  Time  we  may  expect  His 
Majesty's  Pleasure  will  be  known. 

"  If  my  Reasons  have  not  the  Weight  with  you  I  expect 
they  should,  you  ought  at  least  to  put  it  to  a  Vote ;  that 
if  a  majority  be  against  it  I  may  have  that  to  justify 
myself  to  the  King  and  tlie  World  who  ought  to  be  sat- 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  663 

isfi'd  that  I  have  done  all  I  can  to  serve  the  country,  and 
do  my  Duty  in  my  Station." 

The  Convention  did  not  think  fit  to  give  any  answer  to 
this  letter,  but  continued  the  government  as  they  had 
begun.  For  some  reason  Sir  Hovenden  Walker  was 
displeased,  and  refused  to  act  longer  with  the  revolution- 
ary party.  He  retired  to  his  plantation,  and  Mr.  Richard 
Allein  was  chosen  President  of  their  Council  in  his  stead. 

The  fortifications  were  repaired  under  the  supervision 
of  Colonel  Rhett ;  but  the  work,  though  costing  a  great 
sum  of  money,  was  done  so  slightingly  that  in  a  little 
time  it  was  as  much  out  of  repair  as  ever.  The  whole 
country  was  in  arms  for  more  than  a  fortnight,  every 
day  expecting  the  appearance  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  which 
it  was  known  had  sailed  from  Havana.  Happily,  the 
Spaniards  had  determined  first  to  attack  Providence,  and 
then  to  proceed  against  Carolina ;  but  by  the  conduct 
and  courage  of  Captain  Woodes  Rogers,  at  that  time 
Governor  of  the  island,  they  were  repulsed,  and  soon 
after  the  greater  part  of  their  fleet  was  lost  in  a  storm. 

The  Spanish  expedition  having  failed,  the  man-of-war 
Flambourgh,  commanded  by  Captain  Hildesly,  came  from 
Providence,  and  took  up  her  station  at  Charles  Town ; 
and  about  the  same  time  his  Majesty's  ship  Phoenix, 
commanded  by  Captain  Pierce,  arrived  from  a  cruise. 
The  arrival  of  these  vessels  of  war  renewed  the  intrigues 
of  both  parties.  The  commanders  were  courted  by  both. 
They  publicly  declared  for  Governor  Johnson  as  the 
magistrate  invested  with  legal  authority.  This  greatly 
encouraged  Governor  Johnson's  party;  and  having  the 
records  in  his  possession,  and  the  clergy  refusing  to 
marry  without  his  license,  as  the  only  legal  Ordinary  in 
the  province,  the  inconveniences  began  to  be  felt,  and  to 
cool  the  people  in  their  support  of  the  popular  govern- 


664  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

merit.  Thus  emboldened,  Governor  Johnson,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  commander  of  the  ships  of  war,  made 
one  more  attempt  to  recover  his  authority.  He  brought 
up  the  ships  of  war  in  front  of  the  town,  and  threatened 
it  with  immediate  destruction  if  the  people  any  longer 
refused  obedience  to  him.  But  the  people  having  both 
arms  in  their  hands  and  forts  in  their  possession,  with 
seventy  pieces  of  cannon  mounted  on  their  ramparts  and 
near  500  men  beside  them,  bid  defiance  to  the  Governor 
and  his  men-of-war.  The  Governor,  seeing,  therefore, 
that  the  people  were  neither  to  be  worn  by  persuasion 
nor  terrified  by  threats,  abandoned  the  struggle,  and 
the  Proprietary  Government  was  at  an  end.^ 

1  Proceedings  of  the  People  (Yonge)  ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  189,  190; 
He  watt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  286-288. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

1720-29 

Colonel  John  Barnwell  was  already  on  his  voyage 
to  England,  the  envoy  of  the  Convention,  to  appeal  to  his 
Majesty  King  George  for  a  confirmation  of  the  revolu- 
tion they  had  accomplished  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
Proprietary  Government.  Thither  Nicholas  Trott,  now 
deprived  of  his  various  offices,  also  determined  to  go  to 
renew  his  intrigues.  Before  embarking,  Trott  wrote  to 
Governor  Johnson,  informing  him  of  his  purpose  and 
proposing  that,  if  he  would  contribute  to  his  expenses, 
he  would  give  the  Proprietors  such  a  favorable  account 
of  his  conduct  and  services  as  would  insure  to  him  the 
continuance  of  his  office.  But  the  Governor,  knowing 
well  Trott's  character,  and  convinced  that  both  the  revolt 
of  the  people  and  the  subversion  of  the  government  were 
in  a  great  measure  to  be  ascribed  to  his  pernicious  policy 
and  secret  correspondence  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, disdainfully  rejected  his  interest  and  friendship. 
To  this  disrespect  of  the  judge  Governor  Johnson  after- 
wards attributed  many  of  the  injurious  suspicions  the 
Proprietors  entertained  of  his  honor  and  fidelity.  They 
made  no  answer  to  his  letters  or  even  informed  him  whether 
his  conduct  during  the  popular  commotions  had  met  with 
their  approbation  or  disapprobation.  Some  of  them  even 
alleged  that  he  was  privy  to  the  designs  of  the  malcon- 
tents and  gave  them  countenance.^ 

1  Hewatt's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  288. 
665 


666  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  fortune  of  the  Carolina  em- 
bassies to  arrive  in  England  in  times  of  unusual  excite- 
ment. Boone,  fifteen  years  before,  had  reached  London 
in  the  midst  of  the  struggle  over  the  "  Occasional  Con- 
formity" bill,  and  could  secure  little  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  Carolina  while  the  interests  of  the  Proprietors 
and  of  the  government  were  absorbed  in  the  election 
which  followed.  It  now  happened  that  Barnwell  and 
Trott  arrived  just  as  the  great  South  Sea  bubble  craze 
had  begun.  In  both  instances  the  affairs  of  Carolina 
were  involved  in  the  excitement. 

King  George,  at  the  time,  was  in  Hanover  engrossed 
in  negotiations  in  regard  to  continental  affairs,  and  the 
administration  of  his  British  dominions  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  Lords  Justices.^ 

While  Great  Britain  was  leaving  the  Carolinians  to 
defend  themselves,  and  the  province,  the  extreme  southern 
outpost  of  her  American  dominions,  as  best  they  might 
from  the  hostile  inroads  of  the  Spaniards  and  the  cruel 
massacre  of  the  Indians,  and  permitting  the  pirates  to 
prey  upon  the  legitimate  and  growing  commerce  of  her 
own  colony,  and  actually  to  blockade  the  harbor  of  Charles 
Town,  curiously  enough  the  mere  shadow  of  a  trade 
allowed  by  the  court  of  Madrid  to  the  Spanish  coasts 
in  America  was  enough  to  arouse  the  cupidity  of  the 
whole  English  nation.  The  King  of  Spain  had  granted 
permission  that  a  single  British  ship  under  500  tons 
should  make  one  annual  voyage  to  certain  British  fac- 
tories which  he  allowed  to  be  settled  there.  Upon  this 
small  and  precarious  foundation  was  erected  the  famous 
South  Sea  scheme.  The  rice  of  Carolina,  already  esteemed 
the  best  in  the  world  ^  and  which  had  now  begun  to  afford 

1  Smollett's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  II,  385. 

2  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  124. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  667 

a  substantial  article  of  steady  commerce,  was  not  thought 
of  when,  in  1711,  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  to  the  Spanish 
coasts  in  America  was  sanctioned  by  Royal  charter  and 
by  act  of  Parliament  as  a  means  of  improving  the  public 
credit  and  providing  for  the  payment  of  the  government's 
floating  debts.  English  merchants  were  not  slow  in  swal- 
lowing the  gilded  bait.  The  fancied  Eldorado  dazzled 
even  their  discerning  eyes.  The  exploits  of  Drake  were 
quoted,  and  the  dreams  of  Raleigh  renewed.  The  spirit 
spread  throughout  the  whole  nation,  and  many  who 
scarcely  knew  whereabout  America  lay  felt,  neverthe- 
less, quite  certain  of  its  being  strewed  with  gold  and 
gems.^  From  this  beginning  the  stock  of  the  South  Sea 
Company  had,  without  any  real  intrinsic  value,  become  a 
part  of  the  financial  systern  of  the  government,  and  had 
advanced  to  a  very  great  figure.  The  policy  of  gradually 
paying  off  the  national  debt  by  incorporating  it  with  the 
stock  of  flourishing  companies  was  in  high  favor,  and  in 
1717  an  act  was  passed  permitting  the  Proprietors  of  cer- 
tain short  annuities  to  subscribe  the  residue  of  the  terms 
in  the  South  Sea  stock.  In  1719  the  project  was  con- 
ceived of  enormously  enlarging  its  scope.  The  Directors 
proposed  to  provide  a  sinking  fund  for  paying  off  the 
national  debt.  This  was  accepted  by  the  government, 
and  a  bill  was  passed  in  1720  for  carrying  out  this  wild 
scheme.  The  famous  Mississippi  scheme  of  Law,  the  pro- 
totype of  this,  based,  however,  upon  a  somewhat  stronger 
foundation,  that  of  the  exclusive  trade  to  Louisiana  which 
France  could  control,  had,  in  the  preceding  year,  pro- 
duced a  wild  enthusiasm  of  speculation  which  had  reached 
and  spread  through  England.  Upon  an  absurd  report 
that  Gibraltar  and  Port  Mahon  would  be  exchanged  for 

1  Hist,  of  England  (Mahon),  vol.  II,  4;   England  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century  (Lecky),  vol.  I,  216,  348. 


668  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

some  place  in  Peru  by  which  the  English  trade  to  the 
South  Sea  would  be  protected  and  enlarged,  the  stock  rose 
to  1000  for  100.  Exchange  Alley  was  filled  with  a  strange 
concourse  of  statesmen  and  clergymen,  churchmen  and  dis- 
senters, Whigs  and  Tories,  lawyers,  tradesmen,  and  even 
multitudes  of  women.  All  other  professions  and  employ- 
ments were  utterly  neglected,  and  the  people's  attention 
wholly  engrossed  by  this  and  other  chimerical  schemes 
which  were  known  by  the  denomination  of  "bubbles." 
New  companies  started  up  every  day.  Some  of  the  com- 
panies hawked  about  were  for  the  most  extravagant  ob- 
jects. "  Wrecks  to  be  fished  for  on  the  Irish  Coast," 
"Insurance  for  Horses  and  Other  Cattle"  (<£2,000,000), 
"  Insurance  for  Losses  by  Servants,"  "  To  make  Salt 
Water  Fresh,"  "  For  building  Hospitals  for  Bastard  Chil- 
dren," "  For  building  Ships  against  Pirates,"  "  For  ex- 
tracting Silver  from  Lead,"  "  For  the  Transmuting  of 
Quicksilver  into  a  Malleable  and  Fine  Metal,"  "  For  mak- 
ing Iron  with  Pit  Coal,"  ''For  importing  a  Large  Number 
of  Jackasses  from  Spain,"  "  For  a  Wheel  for  a  Perpetual 
Motion,"  ^'' For  an  Undertaking  which  shall  in  Due  Time 
he  revealed.^'' '^  One  proposed  company,  which  immedi- 
ately affects  this  history,  is  not  mentioned  in  the  books 
from  which  the  above  instances  are  taken,  and  that  was 
a  company  to  purchase  Carolina. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1720,  Maurice  Ashley  wrote  a 
letter  to  a  lady,  whose  name  is  not  given,  but  which 
from  intrinsic  evidence,  as  well  as  from  the  fact  that 
it  was  found  among  the  Shaftesbury  papers,  was  doubt- 
less addressed  to  Lady  Shaftesbury,  the  widow  of  the 
third  Earl,   invoking   her  intercession  with    Lord  Stan- 

1  Hist,  of  England  (Mahon),  vol.  II,  16,  17;  England  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century  (Lecky),  vol.  I,  349,  350 ;  Smollett's  Hist,  of  England, 
vol.  II,  400. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  669 

hope  and  others  to  forbear  the  opposition  of  the  Royal 
Government  to  a  plan  for  the  sale  of  Carolina  by  the 
Proprietors  to  a  company  to  be  formed.  The  letter  is 
illustrative  of  the  times. ^  It  is  dated  London,  June 
4,  1720  :  — 

"The  day  your  Ladyship  went  to  Beachworth,"  wrote  Ashley, 
"1  was  at  Kensington  to  wait  upon  you;  intending  at  the  same 
time  to  inform  you  that  we  have  had  a  Proposal!  made  to  us  with 
respect  to  Carolina  of  so  much  advantage  to  the  Proprietors  that  my 
single  share  may  amount  to  Thirty  Thousand  Pound.  The  Terms 
of  Agreement  your  Ladys'p  will  find  indorsed.  They  are  drawn  into 
Form  and  already  signed  by  Lady  Granville  for  her  son  by  Lord 
Carteret;  by  Mr  Bertie  Guardian  to  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  by  Mr 
Danton  ^  and  myself.  I  expect  opposition  from  some  of  the  Min- 
istry. And  since  it  has  been  rumour'd  abroad  that  the  Proprietors 
were  upon  some  project  of  this  sort  I  have  had  a  message  from  Secre- 
tary Craggs  to  know  upon  what  terms  we  would  part  with  our  inter- 
est in  the  Province.^  Before  this  was  thus  rumoured  abroad  they 
took  no  notice  of  us  imagining  to  distress  and  make  us  part  with  it 
for  little  or  Nothing  to  them.  Then  would  all  the  advantage  be 
their  own  either  by  disposing  of  the  Province  by  Subscription  or  by 
giving  it  up  to  the  South  Sea  for  ten  times  as  much  as  they  would 
allow  the  Proprietors  whose  Familys  raised  this  Province  to  England. 
There's  no  doubt  of  our  succeeding  in  case  the  Court  favours  us  or 
but  lets  us  alone.  I  have  no  reason  to  question  your  Ladys'p's  inter- 
esting yourself  in  this  matter  if  it  were  only  a  concern  of  mine ;  but 
I  think  it  must  needs  be  of  more  weight  with  those  you  apply  to  in 
case  your  Lady's'p  can  speak  of  it  as  a  concern  of  your  son  and  his 
family,  and  to  enable  your  Lady's'p  to  treat  it  as  such  I  do  assure 
you  I  will  give  any  Security  that  it  shall  be  so  if  we  can  obtain  what 
may  be  worth  securing.  I  begg  your  Ladys'p  therefore  that  since 
we  have   a  prospect  of  obtaining  something  soe  considerable  you 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  384. 

2  Danson. 

3  Upon  the  collapse  of  the  South  Sea  bubble,  it  was  ascertained  that 
Secretary  Craggs  had  been  one  of  those  to  whom  fictitious  stock  had  been 
issued  to  facilitate  the  passing  of  the  bill.  He  died  upon  the  day  of  the 
exposure.  Smollett's  Hist,  of  England.,  vol.  II,  407  ;  Mabon's  Hist,  of 
England,  vol.  II,  29,  30. 


670  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

would  be  pleased  to  interceed  with  L^  Stanhope  and  others  for  their 
favour  upon  this  occasion  to  my  Nevew  and  his  Family.i  And  I 
propose  to  your  Lady's'p  whether  it  would  not  be  proper  to  acquaint 
Judge  Eyre  with  the  thing  and  desire  his  assistance  in  it.  Your 
L'd'sp  may  observe  the  advantage  likely  to  be  made  by  the  Gentle" 
concerned  in  the  Bahama  Islands ;  and  who  have  only  a  Lease  from 
us  [who?]  are  the  Prop".  The  Carolinas  are  a  foundation  for  a 
much  greater  thing,  and  are  of  ten  times  the  value :  And  no  man  has 
a  just  title  to  anything  if  the  Proprietors  have  not  a  Title  to  Caro- 
lina. We  make  no  secret  of  our  being  in  Treaty  for  Carolina,  but 
we  mention  no  particulars,"  etc. 

What  particular  influence  Lady  Shaftesbury  possessed 
is  not  known,  but  it  was  evidently  considered  important, 
as  Mr.  Ashley,  her  brother-in-law,  applies  to  her  in  this 
letter  not  only  to  influence  the  ministers  of  the  govern- 
ment in  regard  to  Carolina,  but  to  secure  for  Danson,  in 
Ashley's  name,  a  thousand  pounds  in  the  next  subscrip- 
tion into  the  South  Sea. 

The  paper  enclosed  in  this  letter  shows  that  the  pro- 
posals were  for  the  sale  of  the  province  in  consideration 
of  X250,000  ;  of  which,  however,  X20,000  were  to  abate 
in  case  a  charter  could  not  be  procured.  The  Proprie- 
tors reserved  the  right  to  subscribe  into  the  joint-stock 
company  one-fourth  part  of  the  whole,  and  they  were  to 
be  allowed  eight  of  the  managers. 

News  of  these  negotiations  had  already  reached  Caro- 
lina. Letters  came  that  the  Lords  Proprietors  had  sold 
their  charter  to  three  Quakers,  who  proposed  to  divide 
the  country  into  shares  which  were  to   be  stock-jobbed 

1  Though  by  a  most  curious  coincidence  Lord  Stanhope  died  upon  the 
same  day  as  his  co-secretary  Craggs,  and  died  from  overexcitement  in 
debate  in  the  House  of  Lords  upon  these  troubles,  his  character  was  so 
high,  his  disinterestedness  in  money  matters  so  well  known,  that  in  the 
South  Sea  transactions,  and  even  during  the  highest  popular  fury,  he 
stood  clear  —  not  merely  of  any  charge,  but  even  of  any  suspicion  of 
the  public.    Mahon's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  II,  28. 


UNDER   THE   PROPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  671 

in  Exchange  Alley.  This  report  greatly  increased  the 
indignation  of  the  people  of  the  colony.  They  were 
shocked  at  the  idea  of  their  being  bought  and  sold  as 
part  of  the  South  Sea  stock.  Their  anger  could  not  be 
composed.  It  had  been  the  custom  to  urge,  in  extenua- 
tion of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Proprietors,  that, 
though  they  were  the  fellow-subjects  of  the  colonists, 
"  some  of  them  were  men  of  best  quality  in  England  and 
on  that  score  ought  to  have  a  Deference  shown  between 
them."  But  that  argument  was  now  no  longer  available 
when  their  Lordships  might  be  Quakers  and  "  perhaps  the 
meanest  of  the  people."^  Fortunately  for  the  people  of 
Carolina,  the  "  bubble "  burst  just  at  this  time  and  the 
proposed  sale  fell  through,  so  that  Lady  Shaftesbury  had 
no  opportunity  of  exerting  the  influence  her  brother-in- 
law  seemed  to  suppose  her  to  possess. 

Messrs.  Boone  and  Barnwell,  the  agents  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment of  South  Carolina,  procured  a  hearing  before  the 
Lords  Justices  Regents  in  Council,  in  the  absence  of  his 
Majesty  the  King,  upon  which  their  Excellencies  very 
readily  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Lords  Proprietors 
had  forfeited  their  charter,  and  thereupon  they  ordered 
the  Attorney  General  to  take  out  a  scire  facias  against 
it.  None  was,  however,  issued,  nor  any  further  legal  pro- 
ceedings taken. 2  There  really  was  no  ground  for  such  a 
proceeding.  The  Proprietors  had  done  nothing  to  forfeit 
their  charter,  unless,  indeed,  any  legislation  by  them  with- 
out "  the  advice  assent  and  approbation  of  the  Freemen  " 
of  the  colony  was  such  a  forfeiture.  They  had  neglected 
and  misgoverned  the  province  ;  but  their  charter  had 
most  recklessly  given  them  power  to  govern  as  they  saw 
fit,  provided  only  that  their  laws  were  not  in  conflict  with 

1  Proceedings  of  the  People  ;  Carroll's  Coll.^  vol.  II,  190. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  172. 


672  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

those  of  Great  Britain,  and  were  enacted  with  the  consent 
of  the  freemen  of  the  province.  This  latter  safeguard  had 
been  utterly  disregarded  by  the  Proprietors  from  the  very 
inception  of  the  colony.  The  Fundamental  Constitutions 
had  been  imposed  as  far  as  they  could  be,  and  altered  again 
and  again  without  the  assent  of  the  Commons.  True,  the 
people  had  refused  to  recognize  that  body  of  laws,  but  the 
Proprietors  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  enforce  them. 
The  two  grounds  upon  which  they  were  now  said  to  have 
violated  the  charter  were  :  (1)  the  repeal  of  certain  acts 
which  had  been  assented  to  by  their  deputies  ;  and  (2) 
the  change  in  the  number  of  the  Council.  They  had  fre- 
quently before  this  exercised  the  right  of  altering  the 
laws  of  the  colony  without  the  action  of  the  Commons, 
not  only  in  regard  to  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  but 
in  that  most  important  matter  upon  which  all  laws  must 
depend,  —  the  election  of  the  Commons.  Of  their  mere 
will,  they  had,  from  time  to  time,  dictated  how  many  rep- 
resentatives should  constitute  the  Commons  House,  and 
where  the  election  should  be  held.  They  were  now  insist- 
ing that  all  the  elections  should  be  held  at  Charles  Town, 
and  had  set  aside  the  acts  passed  by  the  Assembly  elected 
under  the  act  of  1716,  and  dissolved  that  body  because 
elected  at  polls  in  the  parishes  instead  of  in  the  town.  In 
1683  they  had  dissolved  the  Assembly,  because  elected  at 
Charles  Town  and  not  at  Charles  Town  and  London  as 
they  had  ordered.  If,  then,  the  repeal  of  the  acts  of 
1716-17  was  a  violation  of  the  charter,  such  violation  had 
been  continuously  repeated  in  the  fifty  years  of  the  prov- 
ince. The  other  ground  is  still  more  questionable.  The 
only  authority  for  the  number  of  the  Council  was  the  Fun- 
damental Constitutions,  and  the  instructions  first  given 
to  Governor  Sayle  and  continued  to  the  other  Governors 
in  succession.     There  was  nothing  in  the  charter  which 


UNDER   THE    PKOPKIETARY   GOVERNMENT  6VS 

regulated  the  number,  unless,  indeed  again,  it  was  that 
this  matter  should  also  have  been  submitted  to  the  ap- 
proval and  consent  of  the  Commons. 

But  the  Royal  Government  was  now  watching  these 
Proprietary  Governments  with  great  jealousy,  and  seeking 
opportunities  of  resuming  control  and  setting  them  aside. 
The  Lords  Justices,  in  the  absence  of  the  King,  who  had 
himself  lent  a  favorable  ear  to  the  petitions  of  the  people 
of  Carolina  presented  by  Mr.  Boone,  hastened,  therefore, 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  uprising  of  the  people,  which 
the  Proprietors  had  been  unable  to  suppress,  as  requiring 
the  intervention  of  Royal  authority.  On  September  13, 
1720,  an  Order  of  Council  was  made  referring  it  to  the 
Attorney  General  to  prepare  a  commission  and  instructions 
for  the  appointment  of  a  Royal  Governor  for  South  Caro- 
lina ;  and  on  the  20th,  another  order  was  made  appoint- 
ing General  Sir  Francis  Nicholson  as  such  Governor,  and 
giving  him  his  instructions  for  the  government  of  the 
colony.  This  government  was,  however,  merely  provi- 
sionary,  and,  as  such,  it  was  to  last  for  ten  years  ;  for 
there  was  no  little  difficulty  in  settling  the  rights  of  the 
Proprietors  to  the  soil,  though  the  government  of  the 
province  had  been  taken  from  them,  and  this  ultimately 
had  to  be  done  by  purchase  under  an  act  of  Parliament. 
The  history  of  the  administration  of  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment pertains  to  that  of  the  Royal  Government  and 
will  be  considered  hereafter. 

The  old  disputes  as  to  the  title  to  the  original  shares  of 
the  Earl  of  Clarendon  and  of  Sir  William  Berkeley  were 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  settlement  of  the  property 
rights  of  the  Proprietors.  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Trott  had 
gone  to  England,  and  it  is  at  least  a  coincidence,  if  noth- 
ing more,  that,  upon  his  arrival  there,  the  famous  suit  was 
vigorously  pressed  by  his  cousin,  Nicholas  Trott  of  Lon- 

2x 


674  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

don,  and  his  wife,  together  with  her  sister,  Elizabeth 
Moore,  the  other  daughter  of  Thomas  Amy,  against  Mary 
Danson,  the  daughter  of  John  Archdale,  and  her  hus- 
band, John  Danson.  In  this  suit,  the  plaintiffs  not  only 
set  up  their  title  to  the  share  of  Sir  William  Berkeley, 
but  also  asked  for  an  accounting  of  the  sums  due  Thomas 
Amy  for  advances  made  and  expenses  incurred  by  him 
in  promoting  the  settlement  of  the  province. 

The  Board  of  Proprietors,  it  will  be  remembered,  had 
repudiated  their  deeds  to  Amy,  and  had  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  titles  of  Trott  and  his  wife  to  either  share  they 
claimed  under  that  person.  The  one-eighth  share  of  Sir 
William  Berkeley,  as  it  has  appeared,  had  been  purchased 
in  1682  from  Ludwell  and  his  wife,  who  had  been  the 
widow  of  Sir  William,  by  four  of  the  Proprietors  ;  to  wit, 
the  then  Duke  of  Albemarle,  the  then  Lord  Carteret, 
the  Earl  of  Craven,  and  Sir  Peter  Colleton,  who  in  the 
purchase  had  made  use  of  Thomas  Amy  as  their  trustee, 
to  whom  the  conveyance  was  made.  Disregarding  the 
fact  that  the  legal  title  to  this  share  was,  therefore, 
in  Amy,  as  trustee,  the  four  Proprietors  had,  in  1705, 
sold  the  share  to  John  Archdale,  who,  in  1708,  had 
conveyed  it  to  John  Danson,  his  son-in-law.  The  legal 
title  to  the  share  doubtless  remained  outstanding  in  the 
heirs  at  law  of  Thomas  Amy.  The  Board  of  Proprietors 
had,  also,  undertaken  to  escheat  the  one-eighth  share 
originally  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  as  Sothell,  who  had 
purchased  it,  had  died  in  North  Carolina  without,  as  it 
was  supposed,  leaving  an  heir  at  law  or  a  will,  and  had, 
in  1697,  granted  it  to  Amy,  whom  they  appointed  to  be 
one  of  the  eight  hereditary  Lords  Proprietors.  In  1700 
Amy  had  assigned  this  share  as  a  marriage  portion  witli 
his  daughter  to  Nicholas  Trott  of  London.  Subsequently 
it  appeared,  however,  that  James  Bertie  had  found  heirs 


tJNDEb   THE  t^ROPRIEf  ARY  GOVERNMENT  675 

at  law  of  Sothell  and  had  purchased  their  title.  Upon 
this,  the  Board  of  Proprietors  failed  to  support  their 
escheat  and  declined  to  recognize  Amy  or  Trott  under 
their  grant. 

Trott's  claim  to  the  Berkeley  share,  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  was  that  while  it  was  true  that  Amy,  from 
whom  his  wife  had  inherited  in  part,  as  an  heir  at  law, 
had  held  the  share  only  in  trust  for  those  who  had  pur- 
chased it,  he,  Amy,  had  not  only  rendered  valuable  ser- 
vices to  the  Proprietors  in  procuring  immigrants  to  the 
colony,  but  had  actually  expended  considerable  sums  of 
money  in  their  behalf.  The  money  thus  advanced,  with 
allowance  for  his  time  and  service,  the  court  had  found 
amounted,  with  interest,  to  the  sum  of  £2538  11«.,  which, 
under  the  well-established  doctrine  in  equity,  should  be 
reimbursed  to  Amy's  heirs  at  law  before  they  should  be 
called  upon  to  part  with  the  legal  title.  To  this  it  was 
answered  that  the  purchase  of  the  share  from  Ludwell 
had  been  a  personal  matter  between  the  four  Proprietors 
and  himself  as  individuals,  and  not  as  the  board,  and  in 
which  neither  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  nor  his  successor  in 
that  interest,  Maurice  Ashley,  were  in  any  way  interested ; 
nor  were  the  heirs  of  Sothell  or  their  assignee,  James 
Bertie.  The  question  between  Trott  and  Bertie  was  one 
of  fact :  Were  the  persons  from  whom  Bertie  had  pur- 
chased heirs  at  law  of  Sothell  ?  If  so,  the  escheat  of  the 
Proprietors  was  clearly  void,  and  Amy  had  taken  nothing 
under  their  grant  which  he  could  convey  to  Trott.  The 
case  was  a  hard  one  for  Amy  and  those  standing  in  his 
interests  ;  for  he  had,  doubtless,  rendered  the  services  and 
advanced  the  money.  This  was  the  view  taken  by  Lord 
Chancellor  Macclesfield,  who  held  that  Amy  had  acted  for 
the  benefit  of  all  the  Proprietors,  and  that  each  share 
should  bear  its  proportion  of  the  advances  made  by  Amy ; 


676  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

and,  on  the  15th  of  January,  1723,  he  ordered  that  the 
sum  above  mentioned  should  be  paid  over  to  Trott  and 
his  wife,  and  thereupon  they  should  convey  the  shares  to 
Danson.  Danson  died  during  the  litigation,  and  his 
widow,  refusing  to  pay  the  amount  decreed,  was  com- 
mitted to  prison  until  she  did  so.  The  two  shares  were, 
on  the  29th  of  October,  1724,  ordered  to  be  sold.  This 
was  done  on  the  16th  of  February,  1725,  whereupon  they 
were  purchased  by  one  Hugh  AVatson  for  ^900  for  both 
proprietorships.  Watson  bought,  however,  only  as  trustee, 
and  afterwards  conveyed  one  of  the  proprietorships  to 
Henry  Bertie,  and  the  other  to  James  Bertie.  Mary 
Danson,  the  widow,  after  having  been  confined  in  prison 
nearly  two  years  because  of  her  refusal  to  pay  as  ordered, 
appealed  from  the  decree  of  Lord  Chancellor  Macclesfield 
to  the  House  of  Lords,  before  which  tribunal  she  was 
represented  by  the  celebrated  lawyers  Talbot  and  Finch. 
The  appeal  delayed  the  settlement  of  this  province  four 
years,  when,  at  last,  the  plucky  widow  won  her  cause,  and 
the  decree  of  Macclesfield  was  reversed.  Nicholas  Trott, 
of  London,  was  now  also  dead,  the  long  litigation  was  at 
last  compromised,  and  the  House  of  Lords,  by  a  decree, 
carried  out  a  settlement  which  had  been  agreed  upon.  By 
this  decree,  upon  Mary  Danson's  repaying  to  Henry 
Bertie  the  money  he  had  paid  for  the  Berkeley  share,  he, 
Bertie,  together  with  Elizabeth  Moor,  the  surviving  heir 
at  law  of  Amy,  were  required  to  execute  a  conveyance  of 
the  share  to  Mary  Danson.  The  money  thus  paid  by 
Mary  Danson,  it  was  further  decreed,  should  be  refunded 
her  by  Ann  Trott  out  of  the  assets  of  Nicholas  Trott's 
estate.  What  consideration  Amy's  heirs  derived  from 
the  settlement  does  not  appear  ;  they  seem  to  have  lost 
not  only  all  benefit  of  the  services  he  rendered  the  Pro- 
prietors at  the  Carolina  Coffee  House  by  drumming  for 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  677 

colonists,  but  the  money  he  expended  there  as  well.  Mary 
Danson  must  finally  have  reconveyed  the  share  to  Henry 
Bertie,  as  in  the  act  of  surrender  he  is  treated  as  the 
owner,  and  paid  a  share  of  the  purchase  money.  The 
appeal  as  to  James  Bertie  was  dismissed,  and  his  title  to 
the  Clarendon-Sothell  share  thus  confirmed. 

Nothing  definitely  could  be  done  in  regard  to  the  civil 
and  political  condition  of  the  province  until  the  title  to 
these  shares  had  been  finally  adjudicated.  In  the  mean- 
while, the  Proprietors,  having  issued  caveats  against  the 
appointment  of  a  Governor  or  grants  of  any  ofiices  with- 
out notice  to  their  Lordships,  matters  were  so  arranged  in 
1721  by  his  Majesty's  act  of  grace  upon  his  return,  that 
the  Proprietors  acquiesced  in  the  provisional  Governor's 
appointment  until  the  complaints  of  the  colonists  were 
inquired  into  and  settled. ^  The  Proprietors  continued, 
however,  from  time  to  time,  to  assert  their  rights  under 
the  charter.  In  1725  they  appointed  Robert  Wright 
Chief  Justice,  Thomas  Kimberley  Attorney  General,  James 
Stanway  Naval  officer,  Thomas  Lowndes  Provost  Marshal, 
and  Edward  Bertie  Secretary ;  ^  at  the  same  time  they 
asked  the  Royal  Government  to  appoint  Colonel  Samuel 
Hersey  Governor,  offering  to  make  him  a  Landgrave, 
annexing  thereto  four  baronies  of  12,000  acres  each.^ 
The  next  year  Thomas  Lowndes  purchased  of  the  heirs 
of  John  Price,  deceased,  his  landgraveship  with  five 
baronies  of  12,000  acres  of  land  each,  but  surrendered 
the  patent  and  accepted  in  lieu  four  single  baronies.* 

The  Proprietors  made  another  effort  to  recover  their 
government.  On  the  26th  of  June,  1726,  they  petitioned 
the  King  that  the  provisional  Governor  might  be  com- 
manded to  assist  them  in  obtaining  their  just  dues  and 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  T,  172. 

2  Jbid.,  198,  199.  3  ji^i^^  4  xi^id.^  174. 


678  HISTORY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

rights ;  that  he  be  directed  to  continue  the  officers  ap- 
pointed by  them  in  their  employment ;  that  they  might 
have  the  power  to  appoint  other  officers;  that  the  pro- 
visional Governor  might  be  instructed  to  eject  those  from 
the  Proprietors'  lands  who,  after  deposing  their  Governor, 
had  committed  various  excesses  thereon,  cutting  timber, 
etc.  They  concluded  by  praying  that  the  petitioners 
might  be  restored  to  their  ancient  inheritance. ^  Two 
years  after  this,  however,  March  5,  1727-28,  they  had 
given  up  hope  of  restoration  and  petitioned  the  King 
praying  him  to  accept  an  absolute  and  entire  surrender 
of  their  interest  in  the  province  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  X 25,000,  just  one- tenth  of  what  they  had  hoped  to 
have  received  from  the  South  Sea  company.  Later,  they 
again  memorialize  the  King,  stating  that  about  twelve 
months  before  they  had  proposed  to  surrender  to  his 
Majesty  all  interest  in  the  province  for  the  sum  of 
.£25,000 ;  that  they  had  laid  their  letter  before  the  Attor- 
ney and  Solicitor  Generals,  and  that  a  conveyance  was  then 
proposed  with  a  covenant  that  they  should  consent  to  an 
act  of  Parliament.  They  express  their  disappointment 
and  surprise  to  learn  that  the  surrender  could  not  be 
made  without  an  act  first  obtained  for  the  purpose. ^  The 
decree  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  case  of  Danson  v. 
Trott  had  now,  however,  removed  all  difficulty  on  the 
score  of  conflicting  titles,  and  an  act  was  passed  to  carry 
out  the  agreement. 

To  this  agreement  Lord  Carteret  was  not  a  party. 
Though  he  had  paid  little  attention  to  his  duties  as 
Palatine  or  even  as  a  Proprietor,  he  did  not  desire  to  part 
with  his  right  or  interest  in  the  province,  and  declined  to 
set  any  determinate  value  upon  an  estate  likely  to  become 
of  great  value  to  his  family.  Lord  Carteret's  refusal  to 
1  Coll  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  173.  2  jn^,^  175. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPBIETARY   GOVERNMENT  679 

join  in  the  surrender  did  not,  however,  prevent  its  con- 
summation by  the  remaining  Proprietors.  The  act  of 
Parliament  provided  that  the  seven-eighths  shares  of 
the  surrendering  Proprietors  —  to  wit,  of  Henry  Duke 
of  Beaufort,  William  Lord  Craven,  James  Bertie,  Henry 
Bertie,  Sir  John  Colleton,  Archibald  Hutcheson,  who  held 
in  trust  for  John  Cotton  the  share  of  Maurice  Ashley, 
deceased,  and  of  Joseph  Blake,  now  come  of  age,  of  which 
Samuel  VVragg  was  agent  —  should  be  vested  and  settled 
upon  Edward  Bertie  of  Gray's  Inn,  Samuel  Hersey  of  the 
parish  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Field,  Henry  Smith  of  Cav- 
ersham,  and  Alexius  Clayton  of  the  Middle  Temple,  in 
trust ;  that  upon  the  payment  to  these  trustees  of  the 
sum  of  £17,500,  they  should  surrender  and  convey  to 
the  King  these  shares ;  and  that  thereupon  the  same 
become  vested  in  his  Majesty.  The  act  also  provided  for 
the  purchase  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  of  seven-eighths  of 
the  quit-rents  due  from  the  colonists  to  the  Proprietors 
for  the  additional  sum  of  £5000. 

While  the  Royal  Government  had  availed  itself  of  the 
revolution  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  in  1719,  and 
had  accepted  their  overthrow  of  the  Proprietors'  rule, 
the  title  to  the  lands  in  the  province  had  remained  for 
ten  years  in  their  Lordships  —  the  eight  Proprietors. 
Upon  this  surrender  of  the  charter  by  seven  of  them, 
under  the  act  of  Parliament  authorizing  and  accepting 
it,  the  title  to  the  lands  became  vested  in  the  King  as 
to  seven-eighths  ;  but  as  Lord  Carteret  refused  to  join 
in  the  surrender,  the  remaining  eighth  share  or  interest 
still  continued  in  him,  the  King  and  his  Lordship  thus 
becoming  tenants  in  common  of  the  lands  of  the  prov- 
inces, both  of  North  as  well  as  of  South  Carolina.  This 
anomalous  condition  of  things  continued  until  1744,  and 
was  only  put  to  an  end  by  a  change  scarcely  less  anoma- 


680  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

lous.  On  the  17th  of  September  of  that  year,  an  indent- 
ure was  entered  into  between  his  Majesty  the  King  of  the 
one  part,  and  the  Right  Hon.  John  Lord  Carteret  of  the 
other,  whereby  his  Lordship,  in  consideration  of  the  allot- 
ment to  him  of  all  that  part  of  North  Carolina  lying  next 
to  the  province  of  Virginia  and  extending  to  a  line  drawn 
from  a  point  six  and  one-half  miles  southward  of  Chick- 
macomack  Inlet  westward,  which  tract  embraced  more 
than  half  of  the  province  of  North  Carolina,  released  his 
interest  in  all  the  remainder  of  the  territory  embraced  in 
the  charter  of  Charles  II.  It  was  expressly  stipulated, 
however,  in  this  indenture  that  his  Lordship  abandoned 
all  right  or  title  to  political  power  under  that  charter.^ 
The  full  legal  title  to  all  of  South  Carolina  thus  did 
not  entirely  revert  and  become  vested  in  the  King  of 
England  during  the  life  of  his  Majesty,  King  George  the 
First.  This  was  not  accomplished  until  in  the  reign  of 
his  successor.  King  George  the  Second. 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  IV,  655,  663. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

From  the  accession  of  James  the  Second  the  Royal 
Government  had  sought  occasion  or  opportunity  to  set 
aside  the  viceregal  powers  of  the  Proprietors  and  to 
resume  the  immediate  control  of  public  affairs,  not  only  in 
Carolina,  but  in  all  of  the  Proprietary  colonies.  Especially 
did  it  seek  to  do  so  in  this  province.  The  agitation  of 
the  question  had  been  pressed  by  Edward  Randolph,  Col- 
lector of  the  Royal  customs,  and  the  Board  of  Trade 
and  Plantations  had  been  constantly  on  the  alert  to  find 
some  ground  of  forfeiture  of  the  Proprietors'  charter. 
They  had  seized  upon  the  occasion  of  the  Church  act  of 
1704  to  advise  its  suppression,  and  the  Whig  House  of 
Lords  had  declared  it  forfeited  because  of  Lord  Gran- 
ville's policy  in  endeavoring  to  secure  Tory  influence  in 
the  colony  by  means  of  the  sacrameiital  test.  Then  upon 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Indian  wars  they  had  encouraged 
Boone  and  Berresford  in  their  appeals  to  be  taken  under 
the  Royal  protection.  The  law  officers  of  the  Crown  had 
twice  been  called  upon  to  institute  proceedings  to  have 
the  charter  declared  forfeited.  But  that  instrument  had 
recklessly  given  the  most  extraordinary  powers,  and  it 
was  found  a  very  difficult  task  to  point  out  wherein  its 
authority  had  been  exceeded,  except  in  the  one  instance 
in  which  the  Royal  Government  seemed  as  little  inclined 
to  act  as  the  Proprietors  themselves ;  and  that  was  in  the 
violation  of  the  provision  of  the  charter  by  which  laws 
could  only  be  enacted  "  by  and  with  the  advice,  assent,  and 

681 


682  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

approbation  of  the  freemen  "  of  the  province.  When  his 
Majesty  received  the  address  of  the  inhabitants  praying 
to  be  taken  under  his  immediate  government  without  ob- 
jection or  rebuke,  the  Proprietors  must  have  realized  that 
their  power  and  influence  no  longer  existed.  His  Majesty's 
government  was,  nevertheless,  setting  a  most  dangerous 
precedent  when,  instead  of  taking  the  initiative  and 
frankly  and  boldly  resuming  the  government,  which  it 
may  well  be  doubted  if  ever  the  King  had  the  right  to 
delegate,  it  weakly  encouraged  the  people  to  rise  against 
the  Proprietors,  and  accepted  their  overthrow  not  as  of 
Royal  authority,  but  as  the  result  of  revolution. 

The  Proprietary  Government  covered  the  period  of  the 
first  fifty  years  of  the  province  of  South  Carolina. 
During  this  time  the  colony  had  been  planted  and  grad- 
ually formed  and  developed  into  a  community  organized 
socially  and  politically.  The  Royal  Government,  upon 
assuming  its  immediate  administration,  found  it  a  state 
with  a  well-digested  body  of  laws ;  with  the  institution 
of  African  slavery  under  a  formulated  code,  upon  which 
was  based  the  beginning  at  least  of  a  social  order  of  its 
own ;  with  a  staple  of  food  and  commerce,  the  production 
of  which  in  America  was  limited  almost  entirely  to  its 
own  territory,  and  along  with  the  cultivation  of  which 
negro  slaves  were  improving  and  multiplying,  and  their 
masters  laying  the  foundation  of  fortunes.  It  found  the 
colonists,  in  spite  of  the  calamities  of  war,  pestilence,  and 
flood,  and  notwithstanding  the  representations  of  their 
agents  in  London,  a  bold,  self-reliant,  and  prospering 
people. 

The  several  causes  to  which  we  alluded  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter  to  this  work  —  to  wit,  (1)  the  position 
of  the  colony  as  an  outpost;  (2)  the  inevitable  contest 
between  the  rights  of  the  colonists  under  the  charter,  on 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETARY    GOVERNMENT  683 

the  one  hand,  and  the  pretensions  of  the  Proprietors  under 
the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  on  the  other  ;  (3)  the 
introduction  of  African  slavery,  and  the  suitableness  of 
the  climate  to  the  negro  race,  together  with  the  find- 
ing of  an  article  of  food  which  could  be  successfully 
cultivated  by  negro  labor  for  foreign  as  well  as  home 
consumption ;  and  (4)  the  consequent  formation  of  a 
social  order  based  upon  the  institution  of  African  sla- 
very following  the  system  brought  from  Barbadoes  — 
had  all  tended  to  the  formation  of  the  character  and 
controlled  the  development  of  the  people  of  Carolina. 

The  planting  of  the  colony  on  the  Ashley,  i.e.  the  St. 
George's  Bay  of  the  Spaniards,  had  been  a  direct  chal- 
lenge to  war  ;  for,  while  acknowledging  in  a  general 
way  the  right  of  England  to  her  possessions  in  America, 
Spain  had  never  agreed  to  a  settlement  of  the  line  be- 
tween her  territory  of  Florida  and  that  of  Carolina 
claimed  by  Great  Britain  ;  and  when  King  Charles  the 
Second  by  his  second  charter  extended  his  territorial 
claim  from  "the  River  St.  Matthias  which  bordereth 
upon  the  coast  of  Florida  and  within  one  and  thirty 
degrees  of  northern  latitude "  —  the  limit  of  his  first 
grant  —  to  a  point  "  as  far  as  the  degrees  of  twenty-nine 
inclusive  northern  latitude,"  thus  including  in  his  grant 
the  Spanish  post  of  St.  Augustine  itself,  he  entailed  a 
condition  of  war  upon  any  colony  which  might  be  estab- 
lished under  its  claims.  The  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine 
at  once  accepted  the  challenge  and  made  war  upon  the 
colony  on  the  Ashley  from  its  very  inception.  France, 
also,  advancing  her  claims  to  the  territory  eastward  of 
the  Mississippi  and  northward  of  Mobile,  was  disputing 
the  westward  limits  of  Carolina.  The  Indian  tribes,  with 
whom  the  Spaniards  and  French  alike  coalesced  with 
greater  facility  than  did  the  English  colonists,  presented 


684  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

the  ready  means  of  continual,  though  una  vowed,  hostility, 
and  .circumscribed  the  advance  of  the  colony  not  only  by 
open  warfare,  but  by  the  dread  of  the  lurking  savage. 

The  first  immigrants  had  not  yet  settled  on  the  Ashley 
when  the  Spaniards  appeared,  giving  them  notice  that  the 
colony  must  fight  for  its  existence.  In  1686  they  de- 
stroyed the  settlement  under  Lord  Cardross,  and  ravaged 
the  country  nearly  to  the  fortifications  of  the  town. 
Then  had  followed,  twenty  years  later,  the  combined  in- 
vasion of  the  French  and  Spaniards,  which  had  been  so 
successfully  repulsed  by  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson.  Then 
the  Indians,  instigated  by  the  French  and  Spaniards,  had 
risen  upon  the  colonists ;  but  these  risings  the  colonists 
had  put  down,  on  the  one  hand  driving  the  Apalachis 
to  the  walls  of  St.  Augustine,  and  on  the  other,  going  to 
the  assistance  of  their  neighbors  in  North  Carolina,  had 
expelled  the  Tuscaroras  from  that  province.  Then  in 
1715  had  occurred  the  great  Indian  War  which  for  a 
time  threatened  the  utter  ruin  and  devastation  of  the 
colony.  But  this  insurrection,  with  but  little  and  feeble 
assistance  from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  they  had 
ultimately  suppressed.  The  colony  had  thus  been  in  a 
constant  state  of  warfare,  and  had  found  able  military 
leaders  in  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  Colonel  Daniel,  Colonel 
Rhett,  Colonel  Barnwell,  the  Moores,  —  James  and  his 
two  sons,  James  and  Maurice,  —  and  Colonel  Chicken. 
The  Indian  troubles  had  immediately  been  followed  by 
the  blockade  of  the  harbor  of  Charles  Town  by  the 
pirates,  and  the  gallant  and  successful  expeditions  against 
them  by  Rhett  and  Governor  Robert  Johnson.  These 
wars  and  conflicts  had  given  the  strong  military  turn  to 
the  colonists  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  had  devel- 
oped in  them  a  resolute  and  independent  spirit.  This 
military  turn,  the  institution  of  slavery  had  tended  also 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  685 

to  develop  ;  and  military  organization  had  become  an 
institution  not  only  of  defence  against  foreign  invaders 
and  hostile  Indians,  but  also  of  domestic  police  rendered 
necessary  by  the  constant  importation  of  negroes  as  sav- 
age, if  less  warlike  than  the  Indians  themselves. 

The  attempt  to  impose  Locke's  Fundamental  Consti- 
tutions upon  the  colony  without  "  the  advice  assent  and 
approbation  of  the  freemen  "  of  the  province  had  raised 
the  question  of  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  Proprie- 
tors. From  the  very  outset,  when  their  Lordships  had 
attempted  to  evade  the  provisions  of  their  charter,  re- 
quiring the  concurrence  of  the  freemen  in  the  enactment 
of  laws,  by  granting  lands  only  to  those  who  would  be 
sworn  to  submission  to  them  and  to  their  scheme  of 
government,  and  from  the  time  when  Will  Owen  "  cen- 
sured the  legality "  of  the  first  election  held  in  the 
province,  the  people  of  Carolina  had  been  learning  the 
great  political  lesson  of  government  by  a  written  con- 
stitution. It  was  this  principle  —  the  essential  differ- 
ence between  the  constitution  of  tradition  and  precedent 
of  England  and  the  lex  scripta  of  America  —  that  was 
forced  upon  their  attention  by  the  effort  of  the  Proprie- 
tors to  impose  that  preposterous  system  of  laws  upon  the 
colony.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  first  political  ques- 
tion asked  and  debated  in  Carolina  was :  "  What  is  written 
in  the  law  ?  how  readest  thou  ?  "  And  that  question  has 
continued  to  be  asked  and  repeated  in  all  the  history  of  the 
province  and  State.  The  revolution  of  1719  was  upon  the 
terms  of  the  charter  ;  that  of  1776  in  South  Carolina  was 
to  a  considerable  extent  upon  the  "  Additional  Instruction  " 
to  the  Governors  of  South  Carolina,  directing  the  control 
of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  disposition  of  its  public 
funds,  the  Royal  instructions  to  the  Governors  having  su- 
perseded the  charter  as  the  constitution  of  the  province. 


6S6  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLIISrA 

The  assertion  of  the  right  of  nullification  in  1832,  and  of 
secession  in  1860,  were  severally  upon  the  construction  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  In  the  discussion 
of  the  right  to  impose  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  and 
again  in  resisting  the  Church  act  of  1704,  the  people  were 
learning  to  contend  for  a  strict  construction  of  the  Royal 
charter,  the  constitution  of  the  province,  as  alike  binding 
upon  Proprietors  and  colonists. ^ 

As  we  have  before  observed,  though  the  extraordinary 
body  of  laws  proposed  by  Shaftesbury  and  Locke  were 
never  constitutionally  adopted,  and  so  were  never  legally 
of  force,  yet  the  appointment  of  Landgraves  and  Caciques, 
empty,  paltry  titles  though  they  were,  sought  alike  by 
Puritans  and  churchmen,  and  the  laying  out  of  seigniories, 
baronies,  and  manors,  doubtless  gave  an  aristocratic 
temper  to  the  government  of  the  colony,  which  tendency 
was  greatly  increased  by  the  prosperous  implanting  of 
the  institution  of  African  slavery,  thus  at  once  affording 
a  peasant  class  in  the  place  of  the  "leet  men"  of  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions,  who  never  came.  The  cli- 
mate agreed  with  the  negroes,  who  could  live  in  the 
swamps,  which  were  fatal  to  the  white  man,  and  yet  was 
not  as  enervating  as  that  of  the  negroes'  native  land,  nor 
as  that  of  the  tropical  islands  from  which  many  of  them 
were  brought.  But  the  institution,  possibly,  would  not 
have  taken  such  vigorous  root  in  the  soil  had  there  not 
been  found  an  article  of  commerce  which  could  be  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  by  its  labor. 

Before  the  cultivation  of  rice  in  Carolina,  Portugal, 
which  was  a  great  consumer  of  that  article  of  food,  had 
been  supplied  from  Italy.  It  was  the  opportunity  of  this 
market  that  had  greatly  induced  the  people  of  Carolina 
to  devote  their  attention  to  the  production  of  this  article 
1  See  The  American  Commomcealth  (Bryce),  vol.  I,  413. 


UKDER   THE   PROt»RiEtARY   GOVERNMENT  687 

of  commerce.  Their  labor  and  industry  were  by  degrees 
rewarded  by  an  abundant  increase  of  this  useful  arid  valu- 
able product,  and  they  had  nearly  monopolized  the  Portu- 
guese market  when,  by  an  act  of  3d  and  4th  Anne,  rice 
was  added  to  the  "enumerated  commodities,"  in  the 
navigation  acts,  the  exportation  of  which  was  restricted 
to  Great  Britain.  This  act  required  the  rice  of  Carolina 
intended  for  Portugal  and  Spain  to  be  shipped  first  to 
England  and  reexported  to  those  countries.  The  cost 
of  this  additional  freight,  with  the  other  charges  of  re- 
exportation, was  estimated  at  one-third  of  its  value.  This 
cut  off  Carolina  as  a  competitor  with  Italy  and  the  East 
Indies,  in  the  markets  of  southern  Europe,  and  lost  them 
that  great  trade.  Thus  from  Christmas,  1712,  to  Christ- 
mas, 1717,  there  were  annually  imported  into  England  from 
Carolina  and  other  plantations  28,073  hundredweight  of 
rice,  and  from  East  India,  Turkey,  and  Italy  only  about 
250  hundredweight.  Of  the  amount  imported  from  Caro- 
lina but  2478  hundredweight  were  reexported  to  Portu- 
gal, Spain,  and  other  ports  south  of  Cape  Finisterre  ;  while 
20,458  hundredweight  were  reexported  to  Holland,  Ger- 
many, and  other  countries  north  of  that  cape ;  leaving 
5387  hundredweight  for  consumption  in  England.^  It 
was  in  this  matter  that  the  navigation  acts  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, the  ultimate  cause  of  the  American  Revolution  of  1776, 
pressed  most  hardly  upon  Carolina.  But  though  deprived 
of  what  should  have  been  the  chief  market  of  the  province, 
yet  the  trade  even  to  the  northern  countries  of  Europe, 
encumbered  as  it  was  with  the  restriction  of  reexportation 
charges,  was  becoming  of  great  value,  and  drawing  a  con- 
siderable commerce  to  Charles  Town.  This  it  was  that 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  pirates  to  the  harbor  of  the 
town  which  could  be  so  easily  watched  from  Cape  Fear. 
1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  424. 


688  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

The  successful  production  of  rice,  and  its  value  as  an 
article  of  commerce,  with  the  manufacture  of  pitch  and 
tar  in  which  negro  labor  could  also  be  profitably  em- 
ployed, tended  greatly  to  the  enlargement  of  the  institu- 
tion of  African  slavery  and  to  strengthen  its  hold  upon 
the  people.  Indigo  and  cotton  were  yet  to  be  found 
equally  suited  to  cultivation  by  this  labor;  but  during 
the  time  of  the  Proprietary  Government,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  after,  it  was  upon  rice  chiefly  that  negro  labor 
could  be  employed  with  great  remuneration.  Carolina 
rice  had  already  become  esteemed  as  the  best  in  the 
world,!  rj^  reputation  it  sustains  to  this  day.^ 

Disputed  titles,  repeated  hurricanes,  exhaustion  of  the 
limited  areas  of  lands  in  Barbadoes,  and  its  overcrowded 
population  had  driven  many  of  the  people  of  that  island 
to  Carolina.  These  people  came  with  colonial  experience, 
and  brought  with  them  their  negro  slaves  already  broken 
in  to  labor,  and  only  wanting  a  soil  and  commodity  upon 
which  to  bestow  it.  They  brought  also  with  their  slaves 
a  system  of  government  and  control,  and  customs  and 
manners  which  the  experience  of  half  a  century  had 
developed.  A  social  order  in  a  great  measure  already 
formed  was  thus  transferred  from  Barbadoes  to  Carolina. 
Unlike  the  first  settlements  at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth 
Rock,  each  of  which,  as  we  have  suggested,  had  to  be  built 
up  from  its  very  foundation,  according  to  its  individual 
circumstances  and  environments,  the  emigrants  from  Bar- 
badoes came  with  a  colonial  social  system  of  their  own, 
which,  beginning  a  little  later  than  that  of  Virginia,  was 
nearly  as  old  and  as  fully  developed  as  that  of  Massachusetts, 
ready  for  adaptation  by  the  new  colonists  from  England. 

Communication  with  England  at  first  was  by  way  of 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca. ,  vol.  II,  424. 

2  South  Carolina'' s  Resources,  etc.,  12. 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  689 

Barbadoes,  and  the  first  trade  of  the  colony  was  with  that 
island.  This  intercourse  continued,  and  strongly  influ- 
enced the  Carolina  colony.  "  The  Goose  Creek  men," 
against  whom  Ludwell  was  warned,  were  the  Barbadians/ 
Moore,  Gibbes,  Middleton,  and  others  who  had  settled 
there.  It  was  to  Barbadoes  that  the  very  able,  if  unprin- 
cipled. Governor  Sothell  turned  for  a  code  of  laws  for  the 
government  of  slaves,  and  the  statute  book  of  that  island 
furnished  the  precedent  for  many  others  of  this  province. 
It  was  from  this  source,  as  it  has  appeared,  that  the  peculiar 
parish  system  of  South  Carolina  was  derived.  It  was 
upon  this  basis,  with  the  additional  aristocratic  tendency, 
encouraged  by  the  partial  establishment  of  the  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  that  the  social  order  of  South  Caro- 
lina was  formed. 

>OSome  remarkable  men  had  appeared  in  the  public  affairs 
(fi  the  colony  during  the  Proprietary  rule.  Sayle,  West, 
Smith,  Morton,  and  Blake  were  men  of  sober  and  virtuous 
lives,  and  of  fair  capacity  in  public  matters.  Their  ad- 
ministrations, while  subject  to  the  inevitable  inconven- 
iences and  struggles  of  a  new  community,  had  been,  upon 
the  whole,  wise  if  not  brilliant.  Sothell,  whatever  may 
have  been  his  private  character,  however  disputed  his 
right  to  the  government,  had  shown  great  political  ability 
in  his  brief  administration,  particularly  in  his  treatment 
of  the  Huguenot  settlers.  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  though 
a  bigoted  Tory,  was  a  man  of  the  highest  character,  and 
a  soldier  of  reputation.  His  defence  of  the  province, 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  French  and  Spanish  invasion, 
in  1706,  forms  one  of  the  brilliant  pages  in  South  Caro- 
lina's history.  His  son  Robert,  afterwards  to  be  known 
under  the  Royal  Government  as  the  "  Good  Governor 
Robert  Johnson,"  had  come  only  at  the  last  struggle  of 
the  Proprietary  Government,  and  the  colony  had  no  op- 
2y 


690  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

portunity  of  appreciating  the  qualities  for  which  he  was 
afterwards  beloved,  excepting  that  of  his  heroic  conduct 
in  regard  to  the  pirates.  The  Moores,  father  and  two 
sons,  were  all  men  of  great  force  and  ambition.  Daniel 
and  Gibbes  were  men  of  ability,  and  Craven  was  the 
wisest  and  best  Governor  of  the  colony. 

But  Trott  and  Rhett  stand  out  upon  the  scene  conspic- 
uously, as  the  two  who  most  impressed  themselves  upon 
the  affairs  of  the  time.  Rhett  was  of  violent  and  domi- 
neering disposition,  but  his  repeated  and  signal  services 
to  the  colony  demanded  its  gratitude  and  respect,  and  the 
people  forgave  his  overbearing  manner  when  recollecting 
his  gallantry  in  their  defence  against  invaders  and  pirates, 
and  recognized  his  earnest  zeal  for  the  public  welfare, 
despite  the  imperiousness  of  his  conduct.^  Trott  was  an 
extraordinary  man.  His  learning  for  the  times  was  pro- 
found ;  his  ability  great ;  his  industry  indefatigable  ;  but 
his  character  corrupt,  though  a  devoted  churchman,  and 
as  learned  in  theology  as  in  law.  No  one  can  read  his 
charge  to  the  grand  jury  upon  witchcraft  and  doubt  his 
sincere  conviction  upon  the  subject ;  nor  is  it  easy  to 
believe  that  one  so  familiar  with  the  Holy  Scriptures  as 
his  charges,  especially  that  in  regard  to  Avitchcraft  and 
that  to  poor  Stede  Bonnet,  proved  him  to  be  could  be  alto- 
gether regardless  of  their  teaching  ;  and  yet  he  is  more 
remembered  to-day  for  his  corruption  than  for  the  really 
great  services  he  rendered,  not  only  the  province  of  his 
day,  but  the  State  Avhich  was  to  succeed  it. 

Trott  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been  the  father  of  law 
and  of  the  courts  in  South  Carolina.  He  was  not  only 
the  first  judge,  but  the  first  lawyer  of  whose  professional 

1  Colonel  Rhett  died  suddenly,  in  1721,  from  apoplexy,  as  he  was  pre- 
paring for  his  departure  for  Barbadoes,  of  which,  it  is  said,  he  had  been 
appointed  Governor.     Johnson's  Traditions,  232. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  691 

career  we  have  any  knowledge.  There  is,  indeed,  no  rec- 
ord of  any  lawyer  in  the  colony  before  his  arrival.  The 
absurd  provision  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  declar- 
ing it  to  be  a  base  and  vile  thing  to  plead  for  money  or 
reward,  and  prohibiting  it,  though  never  constitutionally  of 
force,  Avas  not  encouraging  to  the  coming  of  any  of  the  pro- 
fession. It  is  quite  certain  that  none  but  Trott  came  until 
the  attempt  to  impose  those  provisions  was  abandoned. 

Upon  the  first  settlement  of  the  province,  as  we  have 
seen,  rough  justice  had  been  administered  by  the  Grand 
Council.  In  1682  the  Proprietors  presented  a  system  of 
judicature,  to  consist  of  a  County  Court,  of  a  Chief  Judge 
or  Sheriff,  and  four  justices,  who  were  to  have  jurisdiction 
of  all  civil  causes  and  of  all  causes  criminal  for  offences 
whereof  the  penalty  was  less  than  death  ;  of  an  Assize 
Court,  consisting  of  an  itinerant  justice  together  with  the 
members  of  this  County  Court,  and  of  a  Governor  and 
Council,  who  were  to  exercise  general  appellate  jurisdic- 
tion of  all  causes  from  the  County  Court  and  Assizes  and 
general  original  jurisdiction  in  chancery. ^  We  find  fre- 
quent allusions  to  these  courts,  but  no  record  of  their 
proceedings.  The  Assize  Court  went  upon  no  circuit ;  no 
general  court  was  held  outside  of  Charles  Town.  The 
first  person  who  was  Sheriff  or  Chief  Judge,  of  whom 
we  know,  was  Robert  Gibbes.  Barnard  Schinkingh  suc- 
ceeded him,  but  when  we  do  not  know,  except  that  he 
had  been  in  office  before  1691,  when  he  was  restored  to  it, 
having  been  removed  by  Sothell.^  It  was  one  of  the 
grievances  of  which  the  Commons  complained,  in  1692, 
that  the  office  of  High  Sheriff  and  Chief  Judge  of  Pleas 
was  lodged  in  the  same  person,  and  another,  that  inferior 

1  Administration  of  Justice  in  So.  Ca.  (Henry  A.  M.  Smith)  ;  Charles- 
ton Year  Book,  1885  (Courteuay),  317. 

2  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  112. 


692  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

courts  undertook  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of  laws.  In 
1698  the  Proprietors  had  sent  out  Mr.  Bohun,  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  in  England,  —  a  layman,  —  to  be  Chief  Justice  ; 
but  he  had  died  after  but  a  year  of  troubled  service,  and 
had  been  succeeded  by  James  Moore,  whom  Governor 
Blake  had  temporarily  appointed,  —  an  appointment  he 
was  authorized  to  make  upon  the  death  or  absence  of 
Chief  Justice  Bohun. ^  Moore  was  also  a  layman,  and 
without  either  the  literary  ability  or  the  limited  legal  ex- 
perience of  Bohun.  In  1702  Trott,  the  first  professional 
lawyer  to  sit  as  a  judge,  was  commissioned  as  Chief  Jus- 
tice ;  2  but  in  1709  he  was  made  to  give  place  to  another 
layman,  Robert  Gibbes,  who  had  before  been  Sheriff  or 
Chief  Judge,  and  of  whom  the  Proprietors  then  wrote  "a 
very  ill  character  had  been  received  "  ;  the  same  Robert 
Gibbes  who  afterwards  secured  the  election  as  Governor 
upon  Colonel  Tynte's  death.  Trott  was  again  made 
Chief  Justice  in  1713,  and  continued  such  until  the  revo- 
lution of  1719.  In  1694  an  elaborate  system  of  fees  was 
established  by  an  act  entitled  "An  act  for  ascertaining 
Puhlique  Officers  Fees,''  in  which  table  fees  are  prescribed 
for  "  The  Judges  of  Pleas  "  and  for  "  The  officers  belong- 
ing to  the  said  Court,"  also  for  "  the  Attorneys  Fees  be- 
longing to  the  Court  of  Pleas,"  and  for  the  Provost 
Marshal ;  ^  which  table  was  revised  in  1698.*  These  acts 
imply  that  there  was,  at  their  respective  dates,  an  organ- 
ized Court  of  Pleas  ;  but  beside  an  allusion  by  Archdale, 
writing  several  years  after  in  his  usual  loose  style,  that 
during  his  administration,  to  wit,  1695,  he  had  continued 
in  office  all  judges  and  militia  officers,  we  know  nothing 
of  the  courts  prior  to  the  coming  of  Chief  Justice  Bohun 
and  Attorney  General  Trott  in  1698. 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  207.  2  jjjia.^  Appendix,  461. 

8  Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  86.  *  lUd.,  143. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  693 

From  this  time  until  the  overthrow  of  the  Proprietar}^ 
Government,  the  system  of  judicature  in  the  province  was 
as  follows  :  — 

1.  Justices  of  the  Peace,  for  the  arrest  of  offenders  and 
the  trial  of  small  causes,  civil  and  criminal,  who  were 
paid  by  fees. 

2.  A  court  of  general  jurisdiction,  called  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  composed  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  four 
assistants,  and  one  of  general  jurisdiction,  called  the 
Court  of  Sessions,  composed  of  the  same.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice received  a  salary  of  X60. 

3.  The  Governor  and  Council,  who  constituted  an  Ap- 
pellate Court  in  civil  and  criminal  cases,  from  the  Chief 
Justice's  Court,  and  who  also  had  general  original  juris- 
diction in  chancery.  The  Governor  was  paid  a  salary  of 
<£200,  and  in  addition  was  entitled  to  receive  certain  fees. 

4.  An  appeal  lay  from  the  Governor  and  Council  to 
the  Lords  Proprietors  in  England. 

5.  A  Court  of  Admiralty,  having  general  admiralty  and 
maritime  jurisdiction,  and  jurisdiction  in  case  of  maritime 
crimes  by  special  commission.  The  judge  and  officers  of 
this  court  derived  their  commissions  from  the  King,  and 
an  appeal  lay  to  the  Privy  Council  or  Lords  of  the  Admi- 
ralty in  England.  The  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty 
was  paid  by  fees  for  the  items  of  his  services. 

6.  The  Governor  of  the  province  exercised  the  duties 
and  powers  of  an  Ordinary.^ 

Trott  remained  in  England  during  the  Provisional 
Government  under  Sir  Francis  Nicholson,  while  the  Pro- 
prietors were  negotiating  the  terms  of  the  surrender 
of   their  charter,  busying  himself  with  that  negotiation, 

1  Administration  of  Justice  in  So.  Ca.  (H.  A.  M.  Smith)  ;  Tear  Book 
City  of  Charleston,  1885,  318  ;  A  Letter  from  So:  Ca.,  1710  (second  ed., 
1732),*  27. 


694  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

and  in  his  effort  to  have  his  codification  of  the  laws 
of  South  Carolina  printed,  and  also  another  work,  —  his 
Explication  of  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Old  Testament^  — 
intriguing  the  meanwhile  to  be  restored  to  his  office 
of  Chief  Justice.  1  It  was  not  until  some  years  after 
(1736)  that  his  codification  was  published ;  but  the 
Royal  Government  found  the  laws  of  the  province 
collected  and  arranged  to  its  hand  by  this  learned,  if 
eccentric,  and  corrupt  judge.  Upon  the  final  establish- 
ment of  the  Royal  Government  Trott  returned  to  Charles 
Town,  but  lived  in  retirement  in  his  house  in  Cumberland 
Street,  devoting  himself  to  his  work  on  the  Explication^ 
and  it  was  said  had  finished  one  large  volume  in  folio 
ready  for  the  press  when  he  died  January  27,  1740. 
He  was  buried  in  St.  Philip's  churchyard,  as  was 
also  Colonel  Rhett.  He  had  been  made  a  Doctor  of 
Laws  and  was  then  spoken  of  as  Dr.  Trott. ^ 

The  peculiar  parish  system  brought  over  from  Barba- 
does  in  1716  remained,  for  the  lower  part  of  the  State, 
until  the  overthrow  of  the  government  in  the  late  war 
in  1865.  This  system,  it  must  be  observed,  was  purely 
an  election  system.  The  parish  was  made  the  election 
precinct  and  elections  for  members  of  the  Assembly  — 
the  only  election  of  civil  officers  until  after  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1776  —  were  held  at  the  parish  church,  and 
conducted  by  the  churchwardens.  But  save  legiti- 
mate ecclesiastical  duties,  such  as  that  of  caring  for  the 
poor,  the  vestries  had  none.^     To  provide  for  the  poor, 

1  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  243-245. 

2  South  Carolina  Gazette,  February  2,  1740. 

*  Subsequently,  during  the  Royal  Government,  municipal  duties  were 
performed  by  the  vestry  and  wardens  of  St.  Philip's  Parish,  Charlestown, 
and  municipal  boards  elected  at  the  church  door  on  Easter  Monday,  to- 
gether with  the  wardens  and  vestrymen.  See  A  Sketch  of  St.  Philip's 
Church,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  by  Edward  McCrady;  Year  Book 
City  of  Charleston  (Smyth),  1897. 


UNDER  THE   PROPKIETARY  GOVERNMENT  695 

however,  these  church  officers  had  power  to  assess  and 
levy  a  tax.  The  only  other  elections  held  in  the 
province  were  those  for  rectors,  vestrymen,  and  wardens 
of  the  churches,  who  were  chosen,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  several  parishes  that  were  of  the 
Church  of  England.  The  vestries  in  South  Carolina 
did  not,  therefore,  take  the  place  of  the  township  officers 
of  other  provinces.  There  was  no  local  government.  The 
province  was  not  supposed  to  be  too  large  for  the 
administration  of  a  single  government  by  Governor  and 
General  Assembly. 

It  is  difficult  correctly  to  estimate  the  exact  moral  and 
religious  character  of  the  people  of  the  province  as  a 
whole  at  this  time.  It  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  the 
world  when,  perhaps,  religion  was  more  a  matter  of  politi- 
cal and  religious  faith  than  of  moral  personal  conduct. 
The  community  was  still  new  ;  a  generation  had  scarcely 
yet  been  born  and  passed  away  upon  its  soil.^  Advent- 
urers from  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world  were  coming 
and  going,  and  some  remaining.  It  was  this  feature, 
doubtless,  which  h^d  so  impressed  Commissary  Gideon 
Johnson  on  his  first  arrival,  but  the  people  generally  were 
by  no  means  of  the  character  he  described.  The  simple 
piety  of  the  French  Huguenots  cannot  be  doubted,  nor 

1  In  the  old  "  Circular  Church,"  that  of  the  Independents  or  Congrega- 
tionalists,  —  "  White  Meeting,"  — which  was  hurned  during  the  late  war, 
there  was  a  monumental  tablet  to  Mr.  Robert  Tradd,  which  stated  that  he 
was  the  first  male  child  bom  in  Charles  Town  and  that  he  died  on  the 
30th  of  June,  1731,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age.  Ramsay's  Hint, 
of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  2;  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courtenay),  1882, 
392.     Tradd  must  therefore  have  been  born  in  1679. 

The  author  of  The  Olden  Time  of  Carolina  states  that  George  Smith, 
the  second  son  of  Landgrave  Thomas  Smith,  was  bom  in  old  Charles 
Town,  west  of  the  Ashley,  in  1672.  Our  Forefathers:  Their  Homes  and 
their  Churches  (1860),  49.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  The  first  Landgrave 
Smith  did  not  arrive  in  the  province  probably  before  1687. 


696  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

can  the  earnest  zeal  of  the  Puritan  class  of  which  Land- 
graves Smith,  Morton,  and  Blake  were  the  leaders  and 
representatives.  To  the  tyrannical  and  venal  Trott,  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  church,  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  was 
more  sacred  than  the  court,  the  temple  of  justice,  which 
he  at  once  adorned  with  his  learning  and  polluted  with 
his  corruption.  Rhett's  violent  temper  and  hectoring 
disposition  was  little  controlled  by  Christian  grace,  but 
he  was  as  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  church  as  heroic 
in  the  defence  of  his  people,  and  spent  freely  of  his  time 
and  means  in  her  support.  He  was  the  willing  almoner 
of  the  bounty  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  and  upon  the  altar  of  St.  Philip's  Church  there 
still  stand  the  silver  tankard,  chalice,  paten,  and  alms  plate, 
with  this  engraved  on  them  "  The  gift  of  Col.  Wm.  Rhett  to 
the  Church  of  St.  Philips  Charles  Town  South  Carolina.'^ 
Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  was  an  earnest  if  over-zealous 
churchman,  with  the  habits  of  a  soldier,  ready  to  support 
Granville  in  his  high-handed  measures,  without  pausing 
to  consider  the  constitutionality  of  his  methods. 

We  do  not  know,  it  is  true,  of  the  performance  of  a 
church  service  beyond  the  limits  of  Charles  Town  before 
1700  ;  nor  is  there  record  of  any  church  out  of  the  town 
before  1703,  when  the  planters  on  Cooper  River  built,  by 
private  subscription  and  the  liberal  assistance  of  Sir  Na- 
thaniel Johnson,  a  small  church  on  Pompion  Hill  in  that 
neighborhood,  though  Original  Jackson  and  Meliscent,  his 
wife,  had  given  a  lot  for  such  a  purpose,  as  is  supposed,  as 
early  as  1681.  It  was  a  false  and  empty  pretence  —  that 
declared  in  the  first  charter  that  the  grantees  were  in- 
fluenced and  excited  in  their  application  for  it  by  "a 
laudable  and  pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith."  No  effort  was  made  by  the  first  Proprietors, 
in  fulfilment  of  their  power,  "  to  build  and  found  churches 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  697 

chappels  and  oratories  in  convenient  and  fit  places."  Be- 
side announcing  the  somewhat  inconsistent  provisions  of 
the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  by  which,  on  the  one 
hand,  they  laid  down  a  great  scheme  of  religious  freedom, 
and  on  the  other,  set  up,  as  they  were  bound  to  do  under 
their  charter,  the  Church  of  England  as  the  established 
church  of  the  province,  the  Proprietors  did  little  or  noth- 
ing to  promote  and  advance  Christianity  in  the  colony. 
A  stock  corporation  intent  only  upon  immediate  pecun- 
iary profit,  instead  of  exerting  their  great  powers  to  con- 
vert the  Indian  savage,  they  gave  "  the  privilege,"  to  use 
their  own  language,  of  selling  Indian  captives  as  the 
cheapest  means  of  "  encouraging  the  soldiers  of  their  in- 
fant colony."  From  the  beginning,  it  is  the  colonists 
themselves  who  appeal  to  the  Proprietors  and  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  for  clergymen  to  be  sent  to  minister  to 
them.  There  were  earnest  Christian  churchmen  in  the 
province  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  ready 
to  give  of  their  substance  for  the  establishment  and  sup- 
port of  their  church.  Original  Jackson  and  Melisoent, 
his  wife,  early  as  1680-81,  really  and  truly  "excited  with 
a  pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion 
and  the  divine  service  according  to  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England,"  gave  land  "  with  the  improvements 
thereon"  for  the  establishment  of  a  church,  presumably 
upon  the  Wando  ;  and  Affra  Coming,  for  "  the  love  and 
duty"  she  had  and  owed  to  the  churches  as  established 
in  the  kingdom  of  England,  of  which  she  professed  her- 
self a  dutiful  daughter,  in  1698  made  the  munificent 
grant  of  seventeen  acres  adjoining  the  town  for  the  sup- 
port of  its  minister.  Both  Jonathan  Amory  and  Martha, 
his  wife,  made  small  bequests  for  the  same  purpose.  Nor 
were  generous  grants  and  bequests  confined  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  England.     Isaac  Mazyck,  who  ar- 


698  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA 

rived  in  1686,  contributed  largely  to  the  building  of  the 
Huguenot  Church,  gave  liberally  towards  its  support  dur- 
ing his  life,  and  by  his  will  bequeathed  .£100  sterling  for 
the  support  of  its  minister.  Cezar  Moze,  in  1687,  from 
his  little  store,  bequeathed  his  mite  to  assist  in  building 
a  house  of  worship  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  plantation 
on  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Cooper  River ;  ^  while  Gov- 
ernor Blake,  who,  though  a  Puritan  and  a  dissenter, 
possessing  a  liberal  spirit  towards  all  Christians,  from  his 
larger  means,  on  June  20,  1695,  gave  ^£1000  sterling  to 
the  Independent  or  Congregationalist  Church. ^  Frances 
Simonds,  a  widow,  gave,  in  1704,  the  lot  of  land  on  which 
the  old  White  Meeting  House  was  built,  and,  in  1707, 
added  another  lot.^  In  1699  William  Elliott  gave  the  lot 
on  which  the  Baptists  erected  their  church,^  and  Mrs. 
Blake,  the  wife  of  the  Governor,  contributed  liberally  to 
the  adornment  of  St.  Philip's,  the  English  church.^ 

If  it  be  conceded  that  the  Church  of  England,  estab- 
lished by  the  charter  of  the  province,  had  not  been  suffi- 
ciently alive  to  her  duties  prior  to  the  end  of  the  century, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  from  the  very  nature  of  her 
government  her  people  in  the  colony  were  in  a  great 
measure  dependent  upon  the  Proprietors  and  the  church 
at  home  for  the  means  of  carrying  on  her  services  and 
work.  No  episcopal  ordination  was  needed  for  the  Bap- 
tists nor  for  the  Congregationalists  —  ministers  could  be 
raised  up  and  set  apart  from  their  own  bodies  in  this 
country.  None  but  a  regularly  ordained  clergyman  could 
fully  officiate  for  the  English  church ;   and  for  such,  as 

1  Howe's  Hist.  Presh.  Ch.,  108. 

2  Tablet  before  referred  to.     See  Year  Book,  1882,  292. 

3  Howe's  Hist.  Presh.  Ch.,  131,  note,  147,  note. 

*  Hist.  First  Baptist  Oh. ,  55  ;  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston  (Courte- 
nay),  1881,  316. 

^Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  26. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  699 

there  was  no  bishop  in  America,  the  colonists  were  de- 
pendent upon  the  Proprietors  and  the  Bishop  of  London. 
But  the  neglect  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  whatever 
extent  that  may  be  legitimately  charged,  ended  with  the 
century.  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
was  then  organized  in  England,  and  South  Carolina  was 
its  first  field.  With  the  aid  of  that  society  there  were, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  1710,  eight  ministers  of  the  Church 
of  England  and  two  French  Protestant  ministers  who  had 
conformed  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1706  in  the  use 
of  the  liturgy  of  the  church  and  accepted  support  from 
the  public  treasury ;  one  other  French  Protestant  minis- 
ter, who  adhered  to  the  discipline  of  the  French  church  ; 
five  British  Presbyterians  or  Independents  ;  one  Anabap- 
tist and  a  small  body  of  Quakers.  There  had  been  some 
changes  by  arrivals,  deaths,  and  removals  in  the  nine  suc- 
ceeding years ;  but  the  number  of  the  clergy  remained 
about  the  same,  constituting  a  clerical  force  of  one  clergy- 
man to  about  500  whites  and  600  negroes,  a  number  which 
would  be  held,  even  in  these  days,  a  fair  proportion. 

If  the  complaint  of  the  dissenters  that  Episcopacy  had 
waited  till  the  colony  had  increased  in  wealth  and  num- 
bers, and  then  had  come  much  in  the  spirit  of  proselytism 
and  dictation,  as  the  national  and  favored  church,^  was 
not  altogether  without  foundation,  it  must,  on  the  other 
hand,  be  remembered  that  the  founder  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  South  Carolina  was  but  providentially  cast 
upon  the  shores  of  the  province,  his  coming  having  been 
neither  of  his  own  will  nor  at  the  instance  of  the  members 
of  his  church.  So,  too,  the  Baptist  minister  had  come  as 
an  exile  driven  from  New  England,  seeking  the  religious 
indulgence  promised  in  the  Royal  charter  to  those  who 
could  not  conform  to  the  church  thereby  established.  It 
1  Howe's  Hist.  Fresh.  Ch.,  172. 


700  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

remains,  however,  to  the  honor  of  the  dissenters  in  the 
province,  that,  though  themselves  taxed  to  support  the 
established  church,  they  maintained  their  own  churches 
by  voluntary  offerings  in  addition  to  the  tax  for  religious 
purposes  imposed  by  the  government. 

The  high  character  of  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  the  province  was  doubtless  owing  in  a  great 
measure  to  the  care  in  their  selection  by  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  Nor  did  the  society 
desert  other  missionaries  whom  it  sent.  When  these 
with  their  flocks  were  driven  before  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping  knife  into  the  town,  the  society  wrote  at  once  to 
Colonel  Rhett,  their  agent,  to  give  to  each,  as  a  gratuity, 
half  a  year's  salary,  and  to  extend  the  same  relief  to  their 
schoolmasters.  Nor  did  the  society  restrict  their  benevo- 
lence to  their  own  missionaries,  but  instructed  their  agent 
to  present  to  each  clergyman  in  the  province  who  had 
suffered  in  the  general  calamity,  though  not  in  the  service 
of  the  society,  a  sum  not  exceeding  £S0^ 

If  Ramsay's  statement  that  the  early  settlers  had  no 
sooner  provided  shelter  and  the  necessaries  of  life  than 
they  adopted  measures  for  promoting  the  moral  and  lit- 
erary improvement  of  themselves,  and  particularly  of  the 
rising  generation,^  is  somewhat  strained  and  overdrawn, 
it  is  nevertheless  remarkable  that,  notwithstanding  the 
constant  political  turmoil,  the  varied  disasters  which  be- 
fell the  colony,  the  continual  apprehensions  of  war,  and 
the  actual  repeated  invasions  of  the  province,  so  much 
was  conceived  and  attempted  in  these  respects.  But  few 
of  the  very  first  settlers,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  brought 
with  them  wives  or  children.  The  necessity  for  schools, 
therefore,  did  not  begin  for  some  years  after  the  founding 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  97. 

a  Ramsay's  Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  353. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  701 

of  the  colony.  But  before  the  seventeenth  century  had 
closed,  the  number  of  children  born  and  brought  here 
began  to  demand  schools  and  religious  instruction  beyond 
the  resources  of  the  inhabitants.  That  many  of  the  colo- 
nists were  educated  and  accustomed  to  literary  pursuits, 
there  is  abundant  evidence.^  Indeed,  as  early  as  1698, 
but  thirty-five  years  after  the  first  charter  of  the  prov- 
ince, but  twenty-eight  years  after  the  founding  of  the 
colony,  and  thirty -two  years  before  Franklin  formed  "  The 
Junto,"  —  the  debating  society  out  of  which  grew  the 
Philadelphia  Library,  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  mother  of 
all  American  subscription  libraries,  — a  free  public  library 
had  been  established  in  Charles  Town.  The  first  act 
upon  the  subject,  i.e.  that  of  1700,  it  is  true,  has  not  been 
preserved,  but  its  enactment,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
library  under  it,  is  definitely  ascertained  by  the  recital  of 
the  Church  act  of  1712,  as  well  as  the  existence  of  the 
library  at  that  time.  We  find,  also,  in  the  journals  of  the 
Commons  on  the  17th  of  June,  1703,  that  Nicholas  Trott 
informed  the  House  that  Dr.  Bray  had  sent  sundry  books 
as  a  further  addition  to  the  "  Public  Library,"  "  together 
with  additional  books  for  a  layman's  library,"  and  the 
thanks  of  the  House  were  ordered  to  be  transmitted  to 
Dr.  Bray  by  Trott.  On  the  following  7th  of  May  the 
Public  Treasurer  was  ordered  to  pay  Edward  Moseley 
for  transcribing  the  catalogue  of  the  library  books  the 
sum  of  X5  15s.2  This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first 
public  library  in  America. 

Lawson,  who  wrote  in  1709,  states  that  from  the  fact 
that  the  people  lived  in  a  town,  they  had  drawn  "  ingen- 
ious people  of  most  sciences  whereby  they  had  Tutors 
among  them  that  educate  their  Youth  a  la  mode.'"'     The 

1  Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  231,  qnoting  Journals. 

2  Commons  Journal. 


702  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

matter  of  education  had,  as  we  have  seen,  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  Assembly,  and  that  by  the  act  of  1710 
commissioners  had  been  appointed  to  receive  legacies 
which  had  then  been  bequeathed  for  founding  a  free 
school.  An  appeal  had  also  been  made  to  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  to  assist  in  its  establish- 
ment, as  the  best  means  of  improving  the  spiritual  as  well 
as  the  temporal  interests  of  the  people.  The  society  had 
answered  this  appeal,  and  in  1711  a  school  had  been  estab- 
lished, under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  William  Guy.  The 
school,  it  is  true,  was  not  altogether  a  free  school,  though 
it  was  so  called ;  for  only  a  limited  number  of  scholars 
were  educated  without  pay.  But  still  it  was  an  attempt 
in  that  direction.  It  was  at  this  school  that  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  first  assisted  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  children  of  the  colonists,  charging  its  teach- 
ers that  they  were  to  take  special  care  of  the  manners  of 
their  scholars,  both  in  and  out  of  school,  teaching  them  to 
abhor  lying  and  falsehood,  to  avoid  evil  speaking,  and  to 
love  truth  and  honesty.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Guy  remained 
but  a  short  time  in  charge  of  this  school,  as  he  was 
removed  in  the  same  year  to  the  cure  of  St.  Helena, 
Beaufort.  He  was  succeeded  as  master  of  it  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Morritt,  who  remained  in  charge  until  1728, 
when  he  became  rector  of  Prince  George's  Parish.  The 
free  school  in  connection  with  St.  Philip's  continued  until 
broken  up  by  the  Revolution  of  1776.^ 

1  Professor  McMaster,  in  his  Hist,  of  the  United  States  (vol.  I,  27), 
has  made  the  reckless  statement  that  in  the  Southern  States  education 
was  almost  wholly  neglected,  hut  nowhere  to  such  an  extent  as  in  South 
Carolina.  '■'■In  that  colony.,''''  he  says,  '■'■prior  to  1730  no  such  thing  as 
a  grammar  school  existed.  Between  1731  and  1776  there  were  hut  five. 
During  the  Revolution  there  were  none.'*''  The  author  of  this  work  has 
elsewhere  fully  refuted  this  statement.  See  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  IV,  "  Education  in  South  Carolina  prior  to  and  during  the  Revolu- 


UNDER  THE   PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  703 

The  effect  of  the  Indian  wars  had  been  rather  to  extend 
than  to  diminish  the  territory  of  the  colony.  The  settlers 
had,  at  the  first  outbreak,  been  driven  into  the  town,  but 
as  the  Indians  were  defeated,  the  lands  occupied  by  them 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  colony  were  taken 
in  and  settled.  Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Yamassee 
lands  were  appropriated  to  new  settlers.  To  protect 
these,  a  small  fort  of  ten  guns  was  built  at  Port  Royal ; 
another  at  Pallizado  Fort,  with  five  or  six  small  guns  ; 
another  at  Savano  Town,  140  miles  from  Charles  Town, 
near  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Augusta,  which  became 
known  as  Fort  Moore  ;  and  another,  "  towards  the  head  of 
the  Santee,"  that  is,  at  what  was  called  the  Congaree,  — 
in  all  of  which  places  there  were  about  100  men,  in  garri- 
sons divided  into  companies.^ 

Until  1717  there  were  few  houses  at  Charles  Town  out- 
side the  fortifications,  the  lines  of  which  have  been  before 
desci'ibed.  In  that  year  the  fortifications  on  the  north, 
west,  and  south  sides  were  dismantled  and  demolished  to 
enlarge  the  town,  which  now  began  to  spread  out  on  the 
north  across  the  creek,  which  ran  where  the  market  now 
stands,  and  on  the  west  beyond  what  is  now  Meeting 
Street.  There  are  but  three  buildings  in  the  city  of 
Charleston  of  which  there  is  any  historical  authority  for 
believing  that  they  were  built  during  the  Proprietary  Gov- 
ernment.2     Dr.  Shecut,  in  his  essay  on  the  topography  of 

tion."  Since  writing  that  paper  he  has  collected  and  now  has  in  his 
hands  copies  of  412  advertisements  relating  to  education,  taken  from  the 
Gazettes  published  in  Charles  Town  between  1732  and  1774,  and  has  a 
list  of  the  names  of  nearly  200  persons  engaged  in  teaching  as  tutors, 
schoolmasters,  or  schoolmistresses  during  that  time. 

1  Colonial  Becords  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  422. 

2  There  is  a  tradition  that  a  small  brick  house  of  but  two  stories,  still 
standing  on  Church  Street,  adjoining  the  lot  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Church  and  Tradd  streets,  is  one  of  the  very  oldest  in  the  city,  and  that 


704  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Charles  Town,  written  in  1719,  states  that  among  the  first 
brick  houses  built  in  the  town  was  that  in  Cumberland 
Street,  immediately  opposite  to  which  at  that  time  was  the 
Episcopal  Methodist  Church  (where  now  stands  the  Cham- 
pion Cotton  Press),  which  was  the  residence  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Trott,  and  next  to  which  was  an  old  magazine. ^  This 
latter,  which  also  still  stands,  was  doubtless  the  magazine 
of  Carteret  Bastion,  which  stood  about  where  Cumberland 
and  Meeting  streets  now  intersect.  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his 
Traditions^  states  that  Colonel  Rhett's  family  mansion, 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  the  still  excellent  building 
now  known  as  No.  60  Hazel  Street.^  Dr.  Johnson  is  cor- 
roborated in  this  by  a  map  published  according  to  an  act 
of  Parliament,  June  9,  1739,  in  which  this  house  is  repre- 
sented as  standing  upon  a  tract  of  land  marked  as  Colonel 
Rhett's.  If  this  was  Colonel  Rhett's  residence,  the  build- 
ing was  in  all  probability  erected  during  the  Proprietary 
rule ;  for  Colonel  Rhett  died  January  14,  1722,  a  little 
more  than  two  years  after  the  overthrow  of  that  govern- 
ment. A  watch  or  guard  house  stood  at  the  end  of  Broad 
Street,  where  the  old  Exchange  or  Postoffice  now  stands.^ 
A  few  plantation  residences  built  during  the  Proprie- 
tary Government  still  remain  standing.  The  two  oldest 
of  these  were  both  the  properties  of  Landgrave  Smith. 

the  Council  of  the  province  held  their  meetings  in  its  rooms;  but  we 
have  been  able  to  find  nothing  on  record  in  regard  to  it. 

1  Shecut's  Essays^  6.  The  house  and  magazine  still  stand.  The  house 
unfortunately  lost  a  story  in  the  great  fire  of  December,  1861.  It  had 
escaped  all  the  previous  disastrous  conflagrations  of  the  town  and  city ; 
but  in  this  fire  it  was  gutted,  and  when  rebuilt  upon  the  old  still  sub- 
stantial walls,  the  third  story  was  left  off.  It  is  now  the  residence  of 
Miss  Whitney.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  as  discrediting  the  an- 
tiquity of  this  house,  that  it  does  not  appear  in  a  map  published  by 
Parliament  in  1739,  but  on  the  contrary  its  site  is  left  as  vacant. 

2  Johnson's  Traditions,  232. 

8  Shecut's  Essays,  4;  The  Olden  Time  of  Carolina  (Mrs.  Poyas),  17. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  705 

The  first  was  his  residence  on  Back  River,  a  branch  of 
the  Cooper,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  brick 
house  in  Carolina.  Landgrave  Smith  afterward,  in  1693, 
removed  to  "  Yeamans  Hall,"  or  "  Yeomans  Hall,"  on 
Goose  Creek,  which  some  traditions  would  identify  with 
the  "  country  house  "  which  Sir  John  Yeamans  built  when 
he  came  into  the  province,  and  to  which  he  retired  when 
the  people  would  not  "  salute  him  governor,"  though  he 
was  a  Landgrave  ;  ^  others  that  it  was  the  property  of 
Lord  Craven. 2  There  is  little  probability  that  either  of 
these  traditions  is  true.  Sir  John  could  scarcely,  in  the 
time  he  was  in  the  province,  have  built  such  a  house  ;  and 
Lord  Craven  was  never  in  the  colony  at  all.  But,  how- 
ever built,  the  house  has  been  in  the  family  of  Landgrave 
Smith  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  and,  though  much 
injured  by  the  earthquake  in  1886,  still  stands.  It  was 
surrounded  by  an  earthwork,  and  had  portholes  in  its 
walls,  as  a  defence  against  the  Indians ;  in  the  cellar  was 
a  deep  well  for  supplying  the  family  or  garrison  with 
water  in  case  of  a  siege,  and  a  subterranean  passage, 
whose  entrance  can  still  be  seen,  led  out  under  the  gar- 
den to  the  creek,  where  boats  were  kept  moored.  There 
is  in  this  old  mansion  a  secret  chamber,  a  small  space 
between  two  walls  with  a  sliding  panel  leading  into  it, 
which  was  used  as  a  hiding-place  for  valuables,  not  only 
during  the  times  of  the  Proprietary  Government,  but  dur- 
ing the  American  Revolution  when  the  family  silver  was 
safely  secreted  there.  This  house  is  but  two  stories  high. 
The  walls  are  stuccoed,  and  in  large,  old-fashioned  panels.^ 
The  piazza  or  gallery  which  is  now  on  its  front  face  is 

1  Harper's  Magazine,  No.  CCCVII,  December,  1875,  16. 

2  The  Olden  Time  of  Carolina  (Mrs.  Poyas),  19. 

*  Harper'' s  Magazine^  snpra  ;  llie  Olden  Time  of  Carolina;  A  Day  on 
Cooper  Biver  (Irving),  20 
2z 


706  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

probably  a  late  addition,  as  the  piazzas  now  so  common  in 
the  South  were  not  generally  introduced  into  Carolina 
until  the  end  of  the  last  or  before  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century.^  "Mulberry,"  or  "Mulberry  Castle," 
on  the  west  side  of  Cooper  River,  was  built  in  1714.  The 
land  on  which  the  house  stands  was  purchased  from  Sir 
John  Colleton  by  Thomas  Broughton,  afterwards  the  first 
Lieutenant  Governor  under  the  Royal  Government.  This, 
too,  it  is  said,  had  loopholes  for  musketry,  with  bastions 
at  the  four  corners.  It  was  used  also  for  the  purpose  of 
defending  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity  against  incursions 
of  Indians. 2 

The  house  built,  in  1704,  by  Stephen  Bull,  who  came  out 
with  the  very  first  colonists,  known  as  "Ashley  Hall," 
and  after  his  death  the  residence  in  succession  of  the  two 
William  Bulls,  his  son  and  grandson,  who  for  more  than 
thirty  years  were  Lieutenant  Governors  of  the  province 
under  the  Royal  Government,  and  often  the  administra- 
tors of  its  affairs,  —  a  house  which  was  the  scene  of  many 
historic  incidents,  —  remained  standing  until  burned  in 
1865,  at  the  close  of  the  late  war.^  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  houses  built  by  two  of  the  early  settlers  in  South  Caro- 
lina should  so  long  have  remained  in  existence. 

1  The  first  mention  of  a  piazza  we  have  found  is  in  a  letter  of  Edward 
Rutledge  to  Captain  Simons,  dated  September  1,  1782.  See  Gibbes's 
Document,  Hist,  of  the  Am.  ^ev.,218.  No  piazzas  appear  upon  any  of 
the  pictures  of  buildings  of  the  time  save  this. 

2  A  Day  on  Cooper  River  (Irving),  13. 

8  Upon  the  evacuation  of  Charleston  during  the  late  war,  in  February, 
1865,  every  house  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Ashley  —  the  place  of  the  first 
settlement  of  the  colony  —  was  burned  by  the  Federal  besieging  forces 
which  came  from  James  Island.  But  three  houses  were  left  standing 
in  the  whole  of  St.  Andrew's  Parish  between  the  Ashley  and  Stono. 
One  of  these  —  Drayton  Hall  —  was  spared,  it  is  said,  because  of  Commo- 
dore Percival  Drayton  of  the  United  States  Navy.  Anticipating  this 
destruction,  the  last  of  the  Bulls  to  reside  in  Ashley  Hall,  the  Hon. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  707 

I  Several  church  buildings  erected  during  the  Proprietary 
period  in  the  country  remain  in  whole  or  in  part.  The 
oldest  entire  building  yet  standing  is  St.  James,  Goose 
Creek.  It  was  built  during  the  incumbency  of  the  Rev. 
Francis  Le  Jau,  D.D.  (1707-17),  probably  in  1711,  and 
remains,  save  for  repairs  after  the  earthquake  of  1886, 
just  as  it  was  when  first  erected.  It  is  built  of  brick, 
cherub  heads  adorn  the  windows,  and  the  high  pulpit, 
marble  tablets  of  the  Commandments,  Creed,  and  Lord's 
Prayer,  are  surmounted  by  the  Royal  arms, — a  decoration 
which  preserved  the  little  temple  from  desecration  and 
destruction  during  the  Revolutionary  War.^  The  floor 
is  of  stone,  seventeen  mahogany  pews  fill  it,  and  there  is  a 
gallery  across  one  end.  Memorial  tablets  and  hatchments 
adorn  the  walls.^  The  walls  of  the  old  White  Meeting 
House,  at  Dorchester,  erected  in  1700,  still  remains.  The 
building  was  burned  during  the  Revolution,  but  was 
rebuilt  in  1794.^  Near  the  same,  the  old  tower  of  St. 
George's,  Dorchester,  built  in  1719,  still  stands.  The 
church  was  built  of  brick,  seventy  feet  long  by  thirty  wide, 
in  cruciform  shape,  with  Gothic  windows,  and  the  tower, 

William  Izard  Bull,  who,  like  his  great-grandfather  and  grand-uncle, 
had  been  a  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State,  declaring  that  the  invaders 
should  never  enter  the  mansion  of  his  forefathers,  himself  set  fire  and 
burned  it  to  the  ground. 

1  "These  arms  were  destroyed  by  the  earthquake  of  1886,  and  their 
exact  restoration  seemed  impossible.  But  a  few  years  before,  a  lady  now 
deceased,  the  daughter  of  one  of  South  Carolina's  greatest  scientists  ... 
(the  late  Professor  John  McCrady),  had  painted  a  copy  in  oils  for  the  use 
of  a  New  England  society.  This  was  obtained,  and  from  it  the  restoration 
was  made  as  it  now  stands." — Historical  Discourse,  by  Rev.  Robert 
Wilson,  D.D.,  at  St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  on  Sunday,  April  12,  1896. 
Appendix  to  Year  Book  City  of  Charleston,  1895  (John  F.  Ficken, 
Mayor). 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  24  ;  Harper's  Magazine,  No.  CCCVII,  December, 
1875. 

'■^  Howe's  Hist,  of  Fresh.  Ch.,  567  ;  Harper's  Magazine,  as  above. 


708  HISTORY  OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

which  once  held  a  ring  of  bells,  shows  how  beautiful,  com- 
plete, and  church-like  the  little  sanctuary  must  have  been.^ 
The  second  St.  Philip's  Church,  that  built  under  the  act  of 
1710,  upon  the  site  of  the  present  church  (burned  in 
1835),  the  beauty  of  which  was  so  extolled  by  Edmund 
Burke,  was  just  nearing  its  completion,  and  so  must  be 
attributed  to  the  period  of  the  Proprietary  Government. 
Its  rising  walls  had  been  blown  down  in  the  great  storm 
of  1716.  It  was  opened  on  Easter  Sunday,  1723,  during 
the  Provisional  Government  of  Sir  Francis  Nicholson. 
Burke  described  it  as  "spacious  and  executed  in  a  very 
handsome  taste,  exceeding  everything  of  that  kind  we  have 
in  America."  2 

Notwithstanding  the  very  genteel  entertainments  that 
Lawson  tells  that  the  country  gentlemen  extended  to 
strangers,  society  in  the  colony  was,  at  the  end  of  the 
Proprietary  Government,  still  in  rather  a  primitive  condi- 
tion. Some  account  of  it,  in  1700,  has  come  down  to  us 
from  tradition  as  given  by  Landgrave  Smith.  In  his 
courting  days,  he  said,  young  girls  received  their  beaus 
at  three  o'clock,  having  dined  at  twelve,  expecting  them 
to  withdraw  about  six  o'clock,  as  many  families  retired 
to  bed  at  seven  in  the  winter,  and  seldom  extended  their 
sitting  in  summer  beyond  eight  o'clock,  their  fathers  hav- 
ing learned  to  obey  the  curfew  toll  in  England.^  The 
rooms  in  those  days.  Landgrave  Smith  said,  were  all 
uncarpeted,  the  rough  sides  of  the  apartments  remaining 
the  natural  color  of  whatever  wood  the  house  chanced 

1  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  346  ;  Harper's  Magazine,  as  above. 

2  Dalcho's  Ch.  Hist.,  123 ;  quoting  Account  of  European  Settlements 
in  America,  vol.  II,  258. 

8  Labat's  account  is  that  in  Bridgetown,  Barbadoes,  they  dined  at  two 
o'clock,  and  their  dinner  lasted  four  hours.  Perhaps  the  cavaliers  did 
the  same  in  Charles  Town  and  at  their  country  seats,  upon  occasions  of 
formal  entertainments. 


UNDER   THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  709 

to  be  built  of.  Rush-bottomed  chairs  were  usual. ^  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Landgrave  Smith 
belonged  to  the  party  in  which  the  stiff  and  rigid  morals 
of  the  Puritan  were  cultivated,  and  Hewatt  tells  that 
these  were  made  the  object  of  ridicule  by  their  neigh- 
bors.^  Lawson  describes  the  gentlemen  seated  in  the 
country  as  very  courteous,  living  very  nobly  in  their 
houses,  and  giving  very  genteel  entertainments.  The 
Swiss  gentleman  who  wrote  to  his  friend  at  Bern,  in 
1710,  so  favorable  an  account  of  the  province,  says  that 
no  people  were  more  hospitable,  gCHcrous,  and  willing 
to  do  good  offices  to  strangers ;  that  every  one  was  ready 
to  entertain  them  freely  with  the  best  they  had.  Morose- 
ness  and  sullenness  of  temper,  so  common  in  other  places, 
was  rare  among  them.  Though  so  happily  situated  that 
nobody  was  obliged  to  beg  for  food,  yet  the  charity  of 
the  inhabitants  was  remarkable  in  making  provisions  for 
the  poor.  Those  born  of  European  parents,  he  says,  were 
for  the  most  part  very  temperate,  and  had  generally  an 
aversion  to  excessive  drinking.  He  could  not  call  to 
mind  above  two  or  three  addicted  to  that  vice.^ 

Besides  these  glimpses,  we  have  little  to  guide  us 
historically  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  society  during 
the  Proprietary  rule.  In  all  probability,  the  people  were 
as  much  divided  in  their  habits  and  manners  as  in  their 
politics,  and  the  division  ran  along  the  same  lines  of 
churchmen  and  Puritans. 

One  of  the  distinguishing  features  in  the  Proprietary 
Governments  of  Carolina  and  New  Jersey,  from  those 
of  others,  was  in  the  number  of  Proprietors.  The  grant 
to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  of  Barbadoes,  in  1624-29,  to  Lord 

1  The  Olden  Time  of  Carolina,  41. 

2  Hist  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  77. 

8  A  Letter  from  So.  Ca.,  etc.,  1710  (second  ed.,  1732),  42. 


710  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Baltimore,  of  Marjdand,  in  1632,  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  of  Maine,  in  1639,  to  William  Penn,  of  Penn- 
sj^vania,  in  1681,  was  each  to  an  individual  Proprietor. 
That  to  Carolina,  in  1663-65,  was  to  eight  Proprietors, 
and  that  to  New  Jersey,  in  1664,  was  to  two,  —  Lord  John 
Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  two  of  the  Carolina 
Proprietors.  A  Royal  Government  had  been  substituted 
for  the  Proprietary  in  Barbadoes  the  same  year  as  that 
in  which  the  grant  of  Carolina  was  made,  1663.  The 
grant  of  Maine  passed  to  the  company  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  1677,  and  tjiat  of  Maryland  was  resumed  by  the 
Crown  in  1690.  The  Proprietary  Government  of  Penn- 
sylvania continued  until  the  Revolution.  That  of  New 
Jersey  became  subdivided,  until  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  number  of  Proprietors  had  so 
increased  as  to  render  good  government  impracticable 
in  consequence  of  divergent  interests  and  views.  The 
evil  became  unendurable,  and  in  1702  by  the  general 
consent  of  the  Proprietors  and  people  the  former,  while 
retaining  all  their  rights  of  property,  surrendered  their 
rights  of  government  to  the  Crown. 

Well  would  it  have  been  for  the  province  had  the 
Proprietors  of  Carolina  adopted  the  same  course.  They 
were,  it  is  true,  not  so  numerous  as  those  of  New  Jersey 
ultimately  became,  but  they  were  too  many  and  too 
often  changing  for  the  efficient  exercise  of  such  powers. 
The  continual  changes  and  frequently  recurring  minori- 
ties and  guardianships  of  the  heirs  or  devisees  of  shares 
as  deaths  occurred  among  them,  rendered  the  Board  of 
Proprietors  in  a  great  measure  perfunctory  in  its  charac- 
ter, and  allowed  it  at  times  to  fall  under  the  control  of 
some  irresponsible  individual.  Thus  it  was  that  while 
Sir  George  Carteret  was  Palatine  the  province  was 
managed  really   by  Locke,  who   was   not   officially  con- 


UNDER   THE    PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  711 

nectecl  with  the  Proprietors  as  a  body,  but  merely  the 
private  secretary  of  Shaftesbury,  and  that  after  him  John 
Archdale,  while  not  really  a  Proprietor  himself,  in  a  great 
measure  controlled  its  affairs  ;  and  that  after  Archdale 
Mr.  Shelton,  the  secretary,  relieved  the  indolent  mem- 
bers of  their  duties  at  the  board,  and  conducted  the 
affairs  of  the  province  of  his  own  will,  only  asking  their 
signatures  to  carry  out  what  he  proposed.  The  old 
Earl  of  Craven  during  his  long  presidency  appears  to 
have  been  always  at  hand  as  Palatine,  and  the  Eail 
of  Bath  for  the  short  time  of  his  palatinate  attended  to 
its  duties  with  some  regularity  ;  but  Lord  John  Gran- 
ville was  the  only  Palatine  who  took  an  active  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  and  his  interest  in  the 
matter  was  induced  by  and  was  subservient  to  the  great 
political  struggle  of  the  time  in  England. 

The  colonists  of  Carolina  had  now,  with  the  connivance 
of  the  Royal  Government,  overthrown  the  weak  and 
uncertain  rule  of  this  careless  and  inefficient  body,  and 
great  was  their  demonstration  of  303'  upon  coming  di- 
rectly under  the  rule  of  the  King.  But,  after  all,  what 
had  they  gained?  They  were  turned  over  by  his  Majesty, 
the  King,  to  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations. Would  this  board  prove  more  attentive  to,  and 
observant  of,  their  interests  than  the  Board  of  Proprietors 
had  been  ?  If  the  self-interest  of  the  Proprietors  had  not 
been  sufficient  to  secure  their  attention  to  the  province, 
was  it  likely  that  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations, 
without  such  interested  motives,  would  be  more  attentive 
and  concerned  for  their  welfare?  Then  again,  in  their 
contests  with  the  Proprietors,  they  had  had  a  measure  to 
which  they  could  ahvays  appeal,  and  by  which  the  con- 
duct of  the  Proprietors  could  be  judged.  Was  the  con- 
duct of  the  Proprietors  in  accordance  with  their  charter  ? 


712  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAKOLINA 

was  a  question  they  had  a  right  to  ask.  But  now  there 
was  no  longer  any  charter  to  which  they  could  appeal  in 
restraint  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  Under  the  Royal  Gov- 
ernment, upon  whose  protection  and  under  whose  imme- 
diate control  they  had  thrown  themselves,  in  the  place  of 
the  charter  their  rights  and  duties  were  to  be  prescribed 
in  the  Royal  Instructions  to  the  Governors,  nominally  by 
his  Majesty,  in  reality  by  the  Commissioners  of  Trade  and 
Plantations,  in  which  instructions  there  was  to  be  no 
saving  clause  providing  for  "the  advice  assent  and  ap- 
probation of  the  freemen"  of  the  province. 


T^       OF  THK  '^ 

UNIVERSITY 


APPENDIX 


RULES  OF  PRECEDENCY 
Under  Locke's  Fundamental  Constitutions 

1st.    The  Lords  Proprietors,  the  eldest  in  age  first,^  and  so  in  order. 

2d.  The  eldest  sons  of  the  Lords  Proprietors,  the  eldest  in  age  first, 
and  so  in  order. 

3d.  The  Landgraves  of  the  Grand  Council;  he  that  hath  been 
longest  of  the  Grand  Council  first,  and  so  in  order. 

4th.  The  Caciques  of  the  Grand  Council ;  he  that  hath  been  longest 
of  the  Grand  Council  first,  and  so  in  order. 

5th.  The  seven  commoners  of  the  Grand  Council,  that  have  been 
longest  of  the  Grand  Council ;  he  that  hath  been  longest  of  the  Grand 
Council  first,  and  so  in  order. 

6th.  The  younger  sons  of  the  Proprietors ;  the  eldest  first,  and  so 
in  order. 

7th.   The  Landgraves ;  the  eldest  in  age  first,  and  so  in  order. 

8th.  The  seven  commoners  who  next  to  those  before  mentioned 
have  been  longest  of  the  Grand  Council ;  he  that  hath  been  longest  of 
the  Grand  Council  first,  and  so  in  order. 

9th.   The  Caciques,  the  eldest  in  age  first,  and  so  in  order. 

10th.  The  seven  remaining  commoners  of  the  Grand  Council ;  he 
that  hath  been  longest  of  the  Grand  Council  first,  and  so  in  order. 

11th.   The  male  line  of  the  Proprietors. 

The  rest  shall  be  determined  by  the  Chamberlain's  Court. 

1  The  first  article  of  the  Constitutions  provided  that  the  eldest  of  the 
Lords  Proprietors  shall  be  Palatine ;  and  upon  the  decease  of  the  Pala- 
tine the  eldest  of  the  seven  Proprietors  should  always  succeed  him. 

713 


714  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 


II 

DEVOLUTION  OF  TITLE  OF  THE  PROPRIETARY  SHARES 
IN  CAROLINA 

1.  Earl  of  Clarendon's  Share.  —  During  the  exile  of  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon  from  1667  to  his  death,  9th  of  December,  1674,  this  share  was 
represented  by  Lord  Cornbury,  son  of  the  Earl.  It  was  afterwards 
purchased  by  Seth  Sothell  (or  Southwell),  September,  1681  (Coll.  Hist. 
Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 105).  Sothell  died  in  North  Carolina  in  1694,  as 
it  was  supposed,  without  heirs,  assigns,  or  will,  and  the  remaining  Pro- 
prietors sequestered  the  share  under  the  provisions  of  the  Fundamen- 
tal Constitutions,  and  assigned  it  to  Thomas  Amy,  29th  of  September, 
1697.  Upon  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  Nicholas  Trott  of  Lon- 
don, Amy  assigned  the  share  to  Trott  as  a  marriage  portion,  21st  of 
March,  1700.  Under  proceedings  in  chancery,  the  share,  with  that 
originally  belonging  to  Sir  William  Berkeley,  which  also  stood  in  the 
name  of  Thomas  Amy,  was  sold  16th  of  February,  1724,  at  £900  for 
both,  to  Hugh  Watson,  who  purchased  as  trustee  of  Henry  and  James 
Bertie,  and  subsequently  this  particular  share  was  allotted  to  the  Hon. 
James  Bertie  (Danson  v.  Trott,  Brown  Pari.  Cases,  vol.  Ill,  452-457), 
in  whose  name  it  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown  (Statutes  of  So.  Ca.^ 
vol.  I,  62). 

2.  Duke  of  Albemarle's  Share.  —  The  Duke  of  Albemarle  died  3d  of 
December,  1669,  and  his  share  descended  to  his  son,  the  second  Duke, 
who  died  in  1688  without  issue  (BurJce).  The  Earl  of  Bath  was  ad- 
niitted  as  Proprietor  in  his  room  24th  of  April,  1694  (Coll.  Hist.  Soc. 
of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  135).  The  Earl  of  Bath  died  21st  of  August,  1701, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  John  Lord  Granville  (Ibid.,  150).  Tlie 
share  subsequently  became  vested  in  the  Duke  of  Beaufort  in  April, 
1709  (Ibid.,  156),  who  died  24th  of  May,  1714,  and  by  his  will  devised 
it  to  James  Bertie  and  Hon.  Dodington  Greville,  trustees  for  his  sons, 
Henry,  the  second  Duke  of  Beaufort,  and  Charles  Noel  Somerset,  in 
whose  name  it  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown  (Statutes  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  62). 

3.  Earl  of  Craven's  Share.  —  The  Earl  of  Craven  died  9th  of  April, 
1697,  without  issue,  and  William  Lord  Craven,  his  grandnephew,  suc- 
ceeded to  his  proprietorship  (Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  141). 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  William  Lord  Craven  8th  of  November, 
1711,  in  whose  name  the  share  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown  (Statutes 
of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  62). 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT  715 

4.  Lord  Berkeley's  Share.  —  Lord  Berkeley  fell  in  arrears  in  the  Joint 
stock,  failing  to  pay  his  quota,  and  his  share  appears  to  have  been 
forfeited  and  disposed  of  by  the  Proprietors  to  Joseph  Blake  on  the 
11th  of  April,  1698  (Danson  v.  Trott,  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol. 
I,  148,  211).  He  died  in  1700,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Joseph 
Blake,  a  minor,  in  whose  name  the  share  was  surrendered  to  the 
Crown  {Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  62). 

5.  Lord  Ashley's  Share.  —  Lord  Ashley,  afterwards  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  died  in  exile,  21st  of  January,  1683,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Anthony  Ashley,  the  second  Earl,  who  died  10th  of  No- 
vember, 1699,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Anthony  Ashley,  the 
third  Earl  (Burke).  The  share  became  vested  in  Maurice,  brother  of 
the  third  Earl,  who  died  without  issue  in  1726  {Ibid.),  when  the  same 
became  vested  in  Archibald  Hutcheson,  in  trust  for  John  Cotton,  in 
whose  name  it  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown  {Statutes  of  So.  Ca., 
vol.  I,  62). 

6.  Sir  George  Carteret's  Share.  —  Sir  George  Carteret  died  13th  of 
January,  1679,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sir  George,  who  died  in 
1695,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John  Lord  Carteret,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Granville,  who  refused  to  join  the  other  Proprietors  in  the  sur- 
render of  1729,  and  held  his  share  until  1744,  when  he  released  upon 
the  allotment  to  him  in  severalty  of  a  part  of  North  Carolina  {Colo- 
nial Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  IV,  655). 

7.  Sir  John  Colleton's  Share.  —  Sir  John  Colleton  died  in  1666,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sir  Peter,  who  died  April,  1694  {Coll.  Hist. 
Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  1, 136),  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sir  John, 
a  minor,  in  whose  name  it  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown  {Statutes  of 
So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  62). 

8.  Sir  William  Berkeley's  Share.  —  Sir  Williatn  Berkeley  died  13th 
o£  July,  1677  (Cooke's  Hist,  of  Va.,  Am.  Com.  Series,  296).  He  devised 
his  share  to  his  widow,  who  afterwards  married  Philip  Ludwell.  While 
Lady  Berkeley  she  sold  the  share  to  John  Archdale,  20th  of  May,  1681, 
who  took  the  title  in  the  name  of  his  son  Thomas.  Disregarding  this 
sale,  after  her  marriage  she  joined  Philip  Ludwell,  her  husband,  in 
another  sale  of  the  same  in  1682,  and  conveyed  the  same  to  Thomas 
Amy  in  trust  for  the  then  Duke  of  Albemarle,  the  then  Lord  Carteret, 
the  Earl  of  Craven,  and  Sir  John  Colleton.  Subsequently,  in  1697, 
the  four  noblemen,  cestuis  que  trust,  requested  William  Thornburg  to 
act  as  trustee  in  the  place  of  Amy.  Thornburg  did  so  act,  but  with- 
out conveyance  of  the  title  by  Amy.  Subsequently,  in  1705,  the  four 
cestuis  que  trust  sold  to  and  executed  a  deed  to  John  Archdale  of  the 


716  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLHSTA 

same  —  the  legal  title  still  remaining  in  Thomas  Amy.  Archdale  exe- 
cuted a  deed  for  the  same  to  his  own  son-in-law  John  Danson,  21st  of 
October,  1708.  These  complications  led  to  litigation,  and  under  pro- 
ceedings in  chancery  the  share  was  again  sold,  together  with  that 
formerly  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  then  of  Sothell,  and  was  purchased, 
as  before  stated,  by  Hugh  Watson  as  trustee  of  Henry  and  James 
Bertie,  and  subsequently  this  particular  share  was  allotted  to  Henry 
Bertie  {Danson  v.  Trott,  above),  in  whose  name  it  was  surrendered  to 
the  Crown  (Statutes  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  62). 

Ill 
LIST  OF  PALATINES 

1.  Duke  of  Albemarle,      2l8t  of  October,  1669  Col.  Rec.  of  No.  Ca.,  I,  179 

2.  John  Lord  Berkeley,   20th  of  January,  1670  "        "  "        I,  180 

3.  Sir  George  Carteret,  "        "  "        I,  239 

4.  William  Earl  of  Craven,  1681  "        "  '•        I,  338 

5.  John  Earl  of  Bath.i  April,  1697  <<        «  «<        1,476 

6.  John  Lord  Gran-   |  CoU.Hist.Soc.of  So.  Ca.,l,  105 

ville,  i  10th  of  January,  1701-2      "        "      "  "        1,150 

7.  William  Lord  Craven,  1708       "        "      "  «'        I,  153 

8.  Henry     Duke     of 

Beaufort,  8th  of  November,  1711      "        "      "  "        I,  183 

9.  John  Lord  Carteret,       10th  of  August,  1714      "        "      "  "        1,163 

1  The  Earl  of  Bath  is  mentioned  as  the  fourth  Palatine  as  follows : 
"  1701-2  Jan  10  St  James  House  —  Memorandum  of  the  death  of  John 
Earl  of  Bdith.  fourth  palatine  of  Carolina  (21  August,  1701,  Thursday) 
The  Lords  proprietors  did  not  meet  until  Saturday  10  Jan  1701-2,  when 
John  Granville  esq.  succeeded  the  said  Earl  his  father  as  the  ^/i5^  palatine 
of  Carolina"  (Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  150). 

The  explanation  of  this  may  be  that  as  Lord  Berkeley  failed  to  pay 
his  quota  to  the  joint  stock,  he  lost  his  position,  as  the  other  Proprie- 
tors did  indeed  sequester  his  share,  but  he  certainly  did  succeed  the 
Duke  of  Albemarle  as  above. 

IV 

LANDGRAVES   AND  CACIQUES 

The  Royal  charter  reciting :  "  13'^  And  because  many  persons 
born  and  inhabiting  in  the  said  Province  for  their  deserts  and  services 
may  expect  and  be  capable  of  marks  of  honour  and  favour  which  in 
respect  to  the  great  distance  cannot  conveniently  be  conferred  by  us"  etc., 


tJNDER   THE  l»ROPRlETARY   GOVERNMENT  717 

gave  to  the  Proprietors  "  full  power  and  authority  to  give  and  confer 
unto,  and  upon  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  province  or  tenntory  as 
they  shall  think  due  or  shall  merit  the  same  such  marks  of  favour  and 
titles  of  honour  as  they  shall  think  fit  so  as  their  titles  or  honours  be  not 
the  same  as  are  enjoyed  by  or  conferred  upon  any  of  the  subjects  of 
this  our  kingdom  of  England." 

In  carrying  out  this  power  the  Proprietors  provided  in  their  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  as  follows :  — 

"  IX.  There  shall  be  just  as  many  landgraves  as  there  are  counties, 
and  twice  as  many  Cassiques  and  no  more.  These  shall  be  the  heredi- 
tary nobility  of  tlie  province,"  etc. 

The  nobility  thus  to  be  established,  it  will  be  observed,  was  in- 
tended by  the  charter  to  be  confined  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
and  so  it  was  understood  by  the  Proprietors,  as  shown  by  the  above 
provision  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions.  But  as  will  appear  by 
the  following  list  of  Landgraves  and  caciques  appointed,  the  restric- 
tion was  disregarded.  The  titles  were  bestowed  upon  the  friends  of 
the  Proprietors  in  England  for  services  rendered  them  or  from  favor. 
In  the  following  list,  those  who  could  at  all  come  under  the  definition 
of  "  inhabitants "  are  given  in  italics.  Most  of  these,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, were  Governors ;  it  being  customary  to  compliment  the  Gov- 
ernor with  the  title  and  the  accompanying  48,000  acres  of  land.  The 
provision  of  the  Constitutions  limiting  the  number  of  Landgraves  to 
the  number  of  counties,  and  of  the  Caciques  to  double  that  number,  it 
also  appears  was  likewise  disregarded.  All  the  Governors  appointed 
Landgraves  are  marked  in  the  following  lists  as  "inhabitants,"  be- 
cause they  actually  came  to  Carolina,  but  in  most  of  these  cases  it  is 
questionable  whether  even  they  were  included  in  the  terms  of  the 
charter,  as  the  title  was  bestowed  upon  them  before  their  coming,  and 
when  they  were  not  inhabitants  of  the  colony. 

LIST   OF  LANDGRAVES 

1.  John  Locke,  author  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  1671. 

2.  James  Carteret,  Baronet,  1671. 

3.  Sir  John  Yeamans,  first  Governor  of  Carolina,  1671. 

4.  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  appointed  Governor  of  Carolina,  but  did 
not  act,  1671. 

5.  Colonel  Joseph  West,  Governor  of  Carolina,  1674. 

G.    Thomas  Colleton,  Esq.,   of  Barbadoes,   brother  of   Sir   Peter 
Colleton,  Proprietor,  1681. 


718  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 

7.  Joseph  Mor(e)ton,  Esq.,  Governor  of  Carolina,  1681. 

8.  Daniel  Axtell  of  the  Council  of  Carolina,  1681. 

9.  Sir  Richard  Kyrle,  Knight,  Governor  of  Carolina,  1684. 

10.  James    Colleton,    Esq.,  Governor  of   Carolina,   brother  of   Sir 
Peter,  Proprietor,  1686. 

11.  Mr.  John  Price,  1687. 

12.  Thomas  Smith,  Esq.,  Governor  of  Carolina,  1691. 

13.  Colonel  Robert  Daniel,  Deputy  Governor  of  North   Carolina; 
afterwards  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  1691. 

14.  John  Archdale,  Governor  of  Carolina,  Proprietor,  1694. 

15.  Joseph  Blake,  Proprietor  and  Governor  of  Carolina,  1696. 

16.  Thomas  Amy,  Esq.,  Merchant  of'  London,  Proprietor,  1697. 

17.  Edmund  Bellinger  of  the  Council  of  Carolina,  1698. 

18.  John  Bayly,  Esq.,  of  Balmaclough,  Tipperary,  Ireland,  1698. 

19.  John  Wyche,  Esq.,  of  London,  Secretary  of  Proprietors,  1700. 

20.  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,   Knight,  M.  P.,  Governor  of  Carolina, 
1703. 

21.  Christopher  Baron  de  Graffenreid,  1709. 

22.  Major  Edward  Juckes,  1709. 

23.  Abel  Kettleby,  Esq.,  of  the  Middle  Temple,  Barrister,  Attorney 
General,  and  agent  of  province,  1715, 

24.  Mr.  William  Hodgson,  son-in-law  of  Lord  Craven. 

25.  Charles  Eden,  Esq.,  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  1718. 


LIST  OF  CACIQUES 

1.  Captain  Henry  Wilkinson,  1681. 

2.  Mr.  John  Smith  of  the  Grand  Council  of  Carolina,  1682. 

3.  Major  Thomas  Rowe,  1682. 

4.  Mr.  Thomas  Amy  of  London  (see  above  list  of  Landgraves), 
1682. 

5.  John  Gibhs,  Esq.,  a  relative  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  1682. 

6.  John  Ashhy,  Esq.,  of  London,  1682. 

7.  John  Monk,  Ei^q.,  named  by  Duke  of  Albemarle,  168-. 

8.  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  (see  above  list  of  Landgraves),  1686. 

9.  Dr,  Christopher  Dominick. 

10.  Thomas  Smith,  Esq.,  of  the  Council  of  Carolina  (see  above  list 
of  Landgraves),  1690. 

11.  Philip  Ludwell,  Esq.,  Governor  of  Carolina,  1692. 

12.  Mr.  William  Hodgson  (see  above  list  of  Landgraves),  1715. 


UNDER   THE   PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT  719 

Note.  —  Of  the  foregoing  lists  the  names  of  the  Landgraves  up  to 
and  in  chiding  that  of  John  Price,  and  the  names  of  the  Caciques  up 
to  and  including  John  Monk,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Calendar  of  State 
Papers,  Colonial  Series,  1669-74,  edited  by  Noel  Sainsbury,  Assist- 
ant Keeper  of  Records,  London,  1889.  The  remainder  has  been  col- 
lated with  the  assistance  of  Langdon  Cheves,  Esq.,  counsellor  at  law, 
Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

In  the  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  174,  there  are  these  entries, 
"1726  July  1.  Document  signed  Thomas  Lowndes  being  a  memo- 
randum that  he  has  purchased  of  the  heirs  and  executors  of  John 
Price  deceased  a  landgraveship  with  four  baronies  of  12,000  acres 
thereto  annexed  ;  that  the  said  Mr.  Lowndes  did  surrender  his  patent 
and  did  accept  in  lieu  four  single  baronies  one  in  his  own  name,  and 
three  in  the  names  of  three  other  persons  in  trust  for  him." 

Ihid.,  198.  "  1726  March  30.  .  .  .  Agreed  to  make  Col.  Samuel 
Horsey  for  his  services  a  landgrave  annexing  thereto  four  baronies  of 
12,000  acres  each.*' 


LIST  OF  GOVERNORS 

1.  Sir  John  Yeamans,  Lieutenant  General  and  Governor  of  the 
province  of  Carolina,  11th  of  January,  1664-65. 

2.  William  Sayle,  first  Governor  of  the  colony  established  on  the 
Ashley  River,  July  26,  1669  ;  died  September,  1670. 

3.  Joseph  West,  chosen  by  Council  on  death  of  Sayle,  September, 
1670;  removed  by  Proprietors,  19th  of  April,  1672. 

4.  Sir  John  Yeamans,  proclaimed  by  Proprietors,  19th  of  April, 
1672;  removed  18th  of  April,  1674. 

5.  Joseph  West,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  18th  of  April,  1674 ;  re- 
moved 18th  of  May,  1682. 

6.  Joseph  Mor(e)ton,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  18th  of  May,  1682  ; 
removed  —  April,  1684. 

7.  Richard  Kyrle,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  29th  of  April,  1684 ; 
died, ,  1684. 

8.  Robert  Quarry,  chosen  by  Council  on  death  of  Kyrle, ,  1684 ; 

removed  by  Proprietors,  11th  of  March,  1684-85. 

9.  Joseph  West,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  Uth  of  March,  1684-86 ; 
retired  September,  1685. 


720  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA 

10.  Joseph  Mor(e)ton,  chosen  by  Council  September,  1685;  con- 
firmed by  Proprietors ;  removed, ,  1686. 

V  11.   James    Colleton,   appointed   by  Proprietors, ,  1686 ;  over- 
thrown by  revolution,  1690. 

12.  Seth  Sothell,  assumed  government  as  a  Proprietor,  6th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1690;  yielded  to  Ludwell,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  2d  of  No^ 
vember,  1691. 

13.  Philip  Ludwell,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  2d  of  November, 
1691 ;  removed  by  Proprietors,  29th  of  November,  1693. 

^     14.   Thomas  Smith,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  29th  of  November, 
1693 ;  retired,  1694. 

15.  Joseph  Blake,  chosen  by  Council,  1694 ;  removed  by  Proprietors, 
31st  of  August,  1694. 

16.  John  Archdale,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  31st  of  August,  1694 ; 
retired ,  1696. 

17.  Joseph  Blake,  appointed  by  Governor  Archdale  as  Deputy  on 
his  retirement  under  special  power, ,  1696;  appointment  con- 
firmed by  Proprietors,  25th  of  April,  1697 ;  died,  1700. 

\/    18.   James  Moore,  chosen  by  Council,  1700 ;  not  confirmed  by  Pro- 
prietors but  allowed  to  exercise  office  until  18th  of  June,  1702. 

V  19.   Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  18th  of  June, 
1702 ;  removed,  9th  of  December,  1708. 

20.   Colonel  Edward  Tynte,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  9th  of  De- 
cember, 1708;  died,  1709. 
,^       21.   Robert  Gibbes,  chosen  by  Council,  1709  ;  not  confirmed  by  Pro- 
prietors but  allowed  to  exercise  office  until  1712. 

22.   Hon.   Edward   Craven,   appointed  by  Proprietors, ,  1712 ; 

retired,  25th  of  April,  1716. 
s^^.     23.   Robert  Daniel,  appointed  by  Governor  Craven  as  Deputy,  on 
his  retirement  under  special  power,  25th  of  April,  1716 ;  removed, 
30th  of  April,  1717. 
V      24.    Robert  Johnson,  appointed  by  Proprietors,  30th  of  April,  1717 ; 

Proprietary  Government  overthrown,  21st  of  December,  1719. 
S/      25.   James  Moore,  son  of  former  Governor,  chosen  by  the  Conven- 
tion, 21st  of  December,  1719. 


UNDER   THE   PKOPKIETAKY   GOVERNMENT  721 


VI 

LAW  OFFICERS 
Chief  Justices: 

Edmund  Bohun 1698-1700 

vJaraes  Moore 1700-1701 

Nicholas  Trott 1702-1709 

v/Robert  Gibbes 1709-1713 

Nicholas  Trott 1713-1719 

Attorney  Generals: 

Nicholas  Trott 1698-1702 

V James  Moore 1703- 

Wmiam  Sanders 1708-1710 

George  Evans 1710-1716 

Richard  Pindar 1716 

Greorge  Rodd 1716 

Richard  Allein 1718 

Judges  of  Court  of  Admiralty: 

Joseph  Mor(e)ton 1699 

JohnTurbill 1708 

Thomas  Nairne 1710 

Nicholas  Trott 1716 

3a 


Q 


\ 


722  HISTOKY  OF   SOUTH   CAKOLIKA 

VII 
POPULATION 

Negro 
"Whites.  Slaves.        Total.  / 

1671        200      . .  200  jCalendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Saiiis- 

bury),  London,  1889,  No.  474. 
1671-72       399      . .  399  Calendar  State  Papers,  Colonial  (Sains- 

bury),  London,  1889,  No.  736. 
Charleston    Year    Book    (Courtenay), 
1883,  379. 

1680      1200      . .         1200  T A Gen't  (Thomas  Ashe),  Car- 
roll's Coll.,  vol.  II,  82. 

1685      2500      . .         2500  Howe's  Hist,  of  Presb.  Ch.,  85 ;  Charles- 
ton Year  Book,  supra,  385. ^ 
1699-1700  5500      . .         5500  Edward     Randolph,    Appendix,    Hist. 

Sketches  (Rivers),  443;  Coll.  Hist. 
Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  210 ;  He  watt's 
Hist,  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  I,  147 ;  Draryt's 
View  of  So.  Ca.,  193 ;  Dalcho's  Ch. 
Hist.,  39  ;  see  ante,  Chap.  XIV. 

1701         . .        . .         7000  Mills's  Statistics  of  So.  Ca.,  177,  quoting 

Humphrey's  Historical  Account  of  So- 
ciety for  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  25.^ 

1708      4080    4100      8180  Report  of   Governor  N.  Johnson,  Hist. 

Sketches   of  So.    Ca.    (Rivers),    232; 
Chapter  Colonial    Hist,    of   Carolina 
(Rivers),  66 ;  Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So. 
Ca.,  vol.  II,  217.3 

1708         . .         . .      12,000  Oldmixon's  British  Empire  in  Am.,  vol.  I, 

518 ;  Carroll's  Coll.,  vol.  II,  460 ;  Chap- 
ter Colonial  Hist.,  66.^ 

1714  . .    10,000      . .      Hist.  Sketches  of  So.  Ca.  (Rivers),  251, 

note. 

1715  6250  10,500  16,750  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States, 

vol.  II,  278. 

1716  ..     10,000      ,.       Colonial  Records  of  No.  Ca.,  vol.  U,  233. 
1719      6460      . .  . .      Report  of  Governor   Robert    Johnson, 

Coll.  Hist.  Soc.  of  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  239. 

1  This  is  a  mere  estimate  by  the  author  Dr.  Howe,  resting  upon  no 
original  authority  which  we  can  find. 

2  Estimate  of  Dr.  Humphrey's,  resting  upon  no  original  authority. 
8  Governor  Johnson  reports  the  number  of  Indian  slaves  as  1400. 

*  Estimate  of  Oldmixon,  the  author,  contradicted  by  report  of  Governor 
Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  and  Council. 


UNDER  THE  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT  723 


vm 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  NUMBER  OF  SHIPS  AND  VES- 
SELS ENTERED,  AND  OF  NEGROES  IMPORTED  FROM 
THE  YEAR  1706  TO  THE  YEAR  1724,  BOTH  INCLU- 
SIVE; VIZ.:  — 

Years.  Negroes.  Vessels. 

24 68 

22 66 

53 81 

107 70 

131 92 

170 81 

76 82 

.....'.      159 99 

419 121 

81 133 

67 162 

573 127 

529 114 

541 137 

601 129 

165 121 

323 120 

436 116 

^04 122 

In  19  years    .     .     5081 2041 

This  account  is  taken  from  "  The  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Commons  House  of  Assembly  of  the  Province  of  South  Carolina,  on  the 
State  of  the  Paper  Currency  of  the  said  Province.  London.  Printed 
by  Thomas  Wood,  in  the  year  MDCCXXXVIL" 


1706 

1707 

1708 

1709 

1710 

1711 

1712 

1713 

1714 

1715 

1716 

1717 

1 

1718 

1719 

1720 

1721 

I 

1722 

1723 

1724 

INDEX 


Adams,  Bev.,  minister  Congregational 
church,  335. 

Addison,  Secretary  of  State,  refers 
memorial  of  Commons  to  Board  of 
Trade,  571. 

Admiral,  oflBce  of,  under  Fundamental 
Constitution,  141. 

Admiralty,  Robert  Quarry,  judge  of, 
203,  20i ;  courts  of,  253,  296,  297 ;  a 
vessel  condemned  as  prize  in,  304; 
Trott  appointed  judge  of,  564;  court 
of,  commissioned,  575 ;  Trott's  charge 
upon  history  of,  610 ;  Lords  of,  633. 

Adventure,  The  Ship,  prize  taken  by 
pirates,  594. 

Adventure,  Kidd's  vessel,  263. 

Adventurer,  The  Ship,  Hilton's  voy- 
age, 71. 

Adventurers,  for  Carolina,  79 ;  char- 
acter of,  315,  316. 

Advocate  General,  Jonathan  Amory 
appointed,  297 ;  Trott  appointed,  298. 

Africa,  importation  of  rice  free  to,  517. 

Agent  of  Colony,  Abel  Kettleby  ap- 
pointed, 516. 

Agrarian  Laws,  sent  by  Proprietors, 
167  ;  character  of,  168,  169,  207. 

Agriculture,  Wilson's  description  of, 
187 ;  Proprietors'  neglect  of,  314 ; 
character  of,  484. 

Alabama,  Territory  of,  included  in 
Charter  of  1665-77. 

Albemarle,  Colony  at,  4;  banishes 
Sothell,  231. 

Albemarle,  County  of,  established,  74, 
75 ;  to  send  delegates  to  Assembly  at 
Charles  Town,  267. 

Albemarle,  Duke  of,  a  Proprietor,  61 ; 
Sir  John  Colleton  addresses,  70 ;  the 
first  Palatine,  110;  Joseph  West, 
deputy  for,  124 ;  death  of,  138,  268. 

Albemarle,  Second  Duke  of,  contract 
as  to  Indian  trade,  177 ;  succeeds  to 
Proprietorship,  268. 


Albemarle,  The  Ship,  one  of  the  fleet 
in  the  Downes,  115, 120 ;  lost  at  Bar- 
badoes,  122 ;  mentioned,  123,  126. 

Albert  de  la  Pierria,  captain  left  by 
Ribault  in  command  of  Fort  Charles, 
45 ;  his  conduct,  46,  47. 

Albrahall,  Bichard,  accompanies 
Sandford,  82,  83. 

Alexander,  John,  surety  for  Captain 
Reiner  charged  with  piracy,  261. 

Aliens,  act  for  making  free,  289 ;  al- 
lowed to  vote,  374,  462. 

AUein,  Bichard,  Attorney  General, 
prosecutes  pirates,  607;  makes 
charges  against  Trott,  (530;  made 
Chief  Justice,  656;  made  president 
of  Council,  6tiS. 

Amory  (or  Emory),  Jonathan,  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  Sothell's 
commissions  to  pirates,  237 ;  mem- 
ber of  Assembly,  239 ;  speaker,  241 ; 
claims  vessel  purchased  as  a  prize, 
262 ;  addresses  Archdale  as  speaker, 
287 ;  appointed  Advocate  in  Admir- 
alty, 2i>7  ;  death  of,  309 ;  comes  from 
Jamaica,  327  n. ;  bequest  to  minister 
of  St.  Philip's  Church,  697. 

Amory,  Martha,  like  bequest  of,  697. 

Amy,  Thomas,  mentioned  as  a  Land- 
grave, 111 ;  proprietary  share  of  Sir 
William  Berkeley  vested  in,  270; 
services  rendered  at  Carolina  Coffee 
House,  271 ;  Clarendon-Sothell  share 
also  vested  in  him,  271 ;  relation  to 
Sir  William  Berkeley's  share,  272; 
compensation  claimed  for  services  at 
Carolina  Coffee  House,  273 ;  attends 
meeting  of  Proprietors,  276 ;  joins  in 
instructions  to  Archdale,  277 ;  made 
Landgrave,  290 ;  attends  meeting  of 
Proprietors,  291 ;  services  alluded  to, 
316;  settles  the  Clarendon-Sothell 
share  on  Nicholas  Trott  of  London, 
his  son-in-law,  387;  death  of,  459; 


725 


726 


INDEX 


claim  of  his  heirs,  459,  460,  674, 
675. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  mentioned  as 
Governor  of  New  England,  229;  a 
Landgrave,  717. 

Anjou,  Duke  of,  mentioned,  365. 

Anne,  Queen,  accession  of,  366;  pro- 
claimed in  Carolina,  388;  approves 
Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  as  Governor, 
389 ;  accession  revives  Toryism,  403 ; 
Marlborough  all  powerful  under,  405 ; 
first  Parliament  of,  expires,  426, 427 ; 
danger  to  the  church  proclaimed  by, 
430;  address  of  House  of  Lords  to, 
435;  returns  thanks,  436;  orders 
Proprietors  to  have  church  acts  re- 
pealed, 444 ;  death  of,  527. 

Antigua,  Island  of,  one  of  Kidd's 
mariners  put  ashore  on,  263;  colo- 
nists come  from,  327  n. ;  exports  to, 
478. 

Antonio,  Indian,  Lord  Cardross  reports 
his  "sinistrous  dealings,"  214. 

Appalachian  Mountains,  mentioned, 
347. 

Apalachians,  or  Apalachi  Indians, 
invade  Carolina,  380 ;  Moore  invades 
the  territory  of,  392;  they  join  the 
Yamassees,  546. 

Archdale,  John,  his  description  of 
Carolina  mentioned,  15 ;  his  descrip- 
tion of  early  colonists,  174 ;  Proprie- 
tors announce  his  purchase  of  Sir 
William  Berkeley's  share,  270,  272 ; 
attends  meeting  of  Proprietors,  276, 
277;  agrees  to  come  to  Carolina, 
277  ;  his  instructions,  Ibid. ;  his  char- 
acter, Ibid. ;  commissioned  as  Gov- 
ernor, 278 ;  made  Landgrave,  Ibid. ; 
awaits  in  Virginia  further  instruc- 
tions, Ibid. ;  arrives  in  Carolina,  279 ; 
his  conduct  as  Governor,  280, 281, 282, 
283,  284,  285,  286;  upon  departure 
appoints  Joseph  Blake  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor, 287;  mentioned,  291,  295; 
claims  credit  for  his  administration, 
314;  his  criticism  of  first  settlers, 
315;  mentioned,  330,  345,  347;  again 
purchases  share  of  Sir  William 
Berkeley,  387 ;  mentioned,  403,  428, 
437,  459 ;  conveys  share  of  Sir  Will- 
iam Berkeley  to  John  Danson,  460 ; 


assails  Governor  Johnson,  461 ;  men- 
tioned, 465;  publishes  his  descrip- 
tion of  Carolina,  486;  mentioned, 
674,  711. 

Archdale,  Thomas,  title  of  share  of 
Sir  William  Berkeley  purchased  by 
John  Archdale,  taken  in  his  name, 
272. 

Archer,  Captain  Allen,  of  brigantine 
Experiment,  567. 

Arizona,  Territory  of,  included  in 
charter  of  1665,  77. 

Arkansas,  Territory  of,  included  in 
charter  of  1665,  77. 

Ash,  John,  dissents  to  thanks  to  Gov- 
ernor Moore,  382  ;  ill  treatment  of, 
386 ;  a  leader  of  the  dissenters,  403 ; 
sent  to  Europe  to  lay  grievances  be- 
fore Proprietors,  412,  413 ;  death  of, 
425. 

Ash,  John,  son  of  former,  qualifies  as 
member  of  Assembly,  445. 

Ash,  Thomas,  writes  description  of 

Carolina,  under  designation  of  T 

A ,  14,  15 :  quotations  from,  183, 

186,  188. 

Ashepoo  or  Ashipoo,  plantation  laid 
out  on,  for  certain  Proprietors, 
175;  lands  on,  ceded  by  Indians, 
179. 

Ashley,  Lord  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 
one  of  the  Proprietors,  62;  Kiawha 
River  named  Ashley,  92 ;  Chief  Jus- 
tice under  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tion, 110 ;  John  Rivers,  agent  of,  116 ; 
Stephen  Bull,  deputy  for,  124 ;  Braine 
writes  to,  135 ;  O'Sullivan  writes  to, 
136;  Sir  John  Yeamans  writes  to, 
137 ;  writes  to  Joseph  West,  138 ; 
Buell  and  Dalton  write  to,  144 ;  writes 
to  Joseph  West,  145;  Joseph  West 
writes  to,  151;  writes  to  Sir  John 
Yeamans,  155, 158 ;  recipient  of  com- 
plaints of  all  parties,  156;  letters 
of,  in  handwriting  of  John  Locke, 
157;  Braine  writes  to,  170;  differ- 
ences with  Clarendon,  255,  256  (see 
Shaftesbury) . 

Ashley,  Maurice,  represents  Proprie- 
tary share  of  his  brother,  387,  428, 
437,  459,  627 ;  share  becomes  vested 
in,  635;  letter  to  Lady  Shaftesbury, 


INDEX 


727 


669,  670;  a  Proprietor,  675;  his 
executor  surrenders  share,  679. 
Ashley  Eiver,  named,  92 ;  mentioned, 
139,  140,  145;  lands  taken  up  on 
each  side  of,  146;  Charles  Town 
upon,  156;  new  town  laid  out  upon 
confluence  of,  with  Wando,  162 ;  Old 
Town  on,  163;  colonists  on,  176; 
mentioned,  182,  206. 
Assembly,  Parliament  now  called, 
240;  members  of,  239, 240,  241 ;  men- 
tioned, 323;  representation,  in  sub- 
ject to  statute,  405 ;  irregularity  in 
election  of,  charged,  406;  act  in  re- 
gard to  election  of,  sacramental  test, 
406,  407,  408,  409,  410 ;  action  of,  in 
regard  to  Rev.  Mr.  Marston,  413, 
414,  415,  420;   act  regulating  elec- 

^  tions  of,  423;   mentioned,  431,  435; 

f  Governor  Johnson's  message  to,  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Marston,  445;  men- 
tioned, 453;  result  of  election  for 
(1706),  454;  quarrels  with  Governor 

I  Johnson,  455,  456,  457 ;   Governor's 

^'  party  regain  control,  458 ;  questions 

Trott's  Proprietorship,  459;  men- 
tioned, 462;  informed  of  Groverhor 
Tynte's  appointment,  465 ;  Grovernor 
Johnson  addresses,  467;  action  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Boone,  467 ;  address  to 
Governor  Johnson,  468 ;  to  the  Pro- 
prietors, 469,  470;  another  chosen 
(1711),  492;  resolution  of,  in  regard 
to  Indian  uprising  in  North  Carolina, 
498;  action  upon,  499;  members  of, 
505  n . ;  Governor  Craven 's  "  speech ' ' 
to,  505;  action  upon,  507;  enact- 
ments of,  508-524;  mentioned,  546; 
enactments  of,  555, 556, 557, 558, 560, 
561,  562, 563 ;  mentioned,  572 ;  enact- 
ments of,  573 ;  address  to  Governor 
Daniel  on  subject  of  pirates,  574; 
Gov.  Robert  Johnson  addresses,  578, 
579,  580 ;  reply  of,  580,  581 ;  quarrel 
with  Governor  about  the  public  re- 
ceiver, 582,  583 ;  enactments  of,  584, 
585;  passes  act  for  speedy  trial  of 
pirates,  605 ;  action  of,  in  regard  to 
rents,  624 ;  revises  election  law,  625 ; 
lays  duties  on  imports,  526 ;  dissolved 
by  order  of  Proprietors,  626,  627; 
Grovernor  and  Council  takes  action 


thereon,  632;  members  of,  address 
Proprietors,  634;  mentioned,  637; 
private  meetings  of  members  of, 
647;  assemble,  choose  speaker,  and 
deliver  address  disowning  Proprie- 
tors, and  calling  upon  Governor 
Johnson  to  hold  for  the  King,  649 ; 
resolves  itself  into  a  Convention, 
650,  651,  652,  653,  654;  vote  them- 
selves again  into  an  Assembly,  ap- 
point officers,  and  send  John  Barn- 
well agent  to  England,  654, 655, 656 ; 
publish  declaration  of  causes  which 
led  to  revolution,  656,  657. 

Attorney  Oeneral,  Trott,  the  first 
commissioned,  259,  297;  James 
Moore,  commissioned,  391;  list  of, 
see  Appendix  VI,  721. 

Axtell  Daniel,  leads  movement  of  dis- 
senters to  Carolina  and  made  Land- 
grave, 194;  mentioned,  199,  288, 
292,  318,  345,  402,  403,  440.  See  List 
of  Landgraves,  Appendix  IV,  718. 

Axtell.  Lady,  title  of,  317  n.,  326. 

Ayaville,  Spanish  Indian  village  taken 
by  Moore,  393. 

Azilia,  proposed  province  under  Sir 
Robert  Montgomery,  575,  577. 

Bacot,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Bahama  Islands,  Sayle's  report  of, 
113,  114;  Randolph's  suggestion  in 
regard  to,  293;  retreat  of  pirates, 
295 ;  mentioned,  297 ;  trade  to,  301 ; 
exports  to,  478 ;  plundered  by  Span- 
iards and  French,  664;  pirates  on, 
574,  588. 

Baker,  Jonathan,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Ballot,  voting  by,  102, 199  and  n.,  423, 
424,  561. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  Charter  of  Maryland 
to,  mentioned,  56,  710. 

Bank,  established,  523,  524;  Proprie- 
tors' repugnance  to,  569. 

Baptists,  Screven's  colony  of,  325, 326 ; 
mentioned,  329;  removal  to  Charles 
Town,  337;  numbers  of,  338, 
699. 

Baptist  Church,  lot  for,  given  by 
William  Elliot,  337. 

^rbadian  Influence,  68,  234, 354,357, 
688.689. 


728 


INDEX 


Barbadian  sloop,  procured  to  supply 
loss  of  the  Albemarle,  122 ;  reaches 
Bermuda,  123 ;  separates  from  fleet, 
124 ;  perils  and  arrival  of,  126,  127 ; 
mentioned,  131. 

Barbadians,  75,  92,  93,  156,  158,  212, 
327  and  n.,  329,  355,  356. 

Barbadoes,  navigation  first  by  way 
of ,  8 ;  grants  of ,  54 :  royal  govern- 
ment in,  57;  planters  of,  leave,  69, 
70 ;  emigrants  from,  114 ;  mentioned, 
115 ;  fleet  arrives  at,  122 ;  the  Albe- 
marle lost  at,  122;  fleet  sails  from, 
123;  mentioned,  126,  128,  137,  139, 
140,  143;  Sir  John  Yeamans  brings 
slaves  from,  151;  provisions  ex- 
ported to,  171;  trade  with,  189; 
churchmen  from,  198;  Colletons 
from,  218;  Yeamans  makes  Caro- 
lina subservient  to,  224 ;  beef  shipped 
to,  284;  landgraves  appointed  from, 
292 ;  yellow  fever  brought  from,  309 ; 
mentioned,  317 ;  new  additions  from, 
327,  329;  earliest  settlers  from,  354; 
social  life  at,  355 ;  parish  electoral 
system  taken  from,  560;  slave  sys- 
tem taken  from,  683;  grant  of  the 
Earl  of  Carlisle  to,  709. 

Barker,  Captain  Thomas,  killed  by 
Indian,  536. 

Barley,  produced,  187. 

Barnwell,  John,  comes  to  Carolina, 
367 ;  his  character,  369 ;  volunteers 
in  Rhett's  fleet,  and  brings  news  of 
capture  of  the  French  at  Sewee,  400 ; 
given  command  of  expedition  to 
North  Carolina  against  Tuscarora 
Indians,  and  sets  out,  499;  attacks 
and  defeats  them,  500;  himself 
wounded.  Ibid.;  thanked  for  his  con- 
duct, 500 ;  conduct  afterwards  ques- 
tioned, 501;  vindicated,  501,  502, 
503 ;  news  of  his  success,  507 ;  unable 
to  command  new  expedition  because 
of  wound,  525  ;  made  colonel  of 
forces  organized,  544;  letter  to  Sir 
Robert  Montgomery  about  Azilia, 
577 ;  chosen  agent  of  convention  sent 
to  England,  656;  on  his  voyage 
thither,  665 ;  arrives  amidst  excite- 
ment over  South  Sea  bubble,  666 ; 
with  Boone  procures  a  hearing  be- 


fore Lord  Regents,  671;  military 
character  of,  684. 

Barony,  baronies  established  under 
Fundamental  Constitution,  95,  96, 
97. 

Barre,  Nicholas,  command  of  Fort 
Charles  bestowed  upon,  46. 

Barrett,  Bev.  Thomas,  Presbyterian 
minister,  335. 

Bath,  Earl  of,  admitted  a  Proprietor, 
268 ;  represents  Sir  George  Carteret 
a  minor,  269 ;  attends  meeting  of  Pro- 
prietors, 276 ;  absent  from,  277 ;  suc- 
ceeds as  Palatine,  290,  291 ;  death 
of,  387 ;  mentioned,  526. 

Batin,  Bichard,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164  71.,  181. 

Baxter,  Edward,  master  ship  Albe- 
marle, 115. 

Bayly,  Captain  Joseph,  owner  of  lot 
in  Old  Town,  164. 

Bayly,  John,  purchases  landgrave- 
ship,  292. 

Bazant,  Jean,  grant  to,  181. 

Beadon,  George,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134 ;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town, 
164. 

Beamor,  John,  opposes  church  acts, 
409;  as  member  of  Commons  signs 
memorial  to  the  King,  571. 

Bears,  reward  offered  for  killing,  352. 

Beaufort,  Duke  of,  admitted  as  Pro- 
prietor, 465 ;  Beaufort  Town  named 
in  honor  of,  493;  chosen  Palatine, 
504 ;  death  of,  526 :  death  announced, 
527. 

Beaufort,  Duke  of,  son  of  former,  a 
minor,  mentioned,  539,  627  ;  surren- 
ders Proprietorship,  679-714. 

Beaufort  Town,  second  town  to  be 
settled,  _7;  directions  for  building, 
493  and  n. ;  Spaniards  set  on  Indians 
to  prevent,  547,  575. 

Belgians,  grants  to,  322. 

Bellinger,  Captain  John,  killed  fight- 
ing Indians,  393. 

Bellinger,  Edmund,  Proprietors  con- 
sult about  constitution,  291;  pur- 
chases landgraveship,  292;  plan- 
tation of,  mentioned,  345 ;  first 
appears  as  deputy  of  Thomas  Amy, 
3(J9;  charged  with  conspiracy,  372; 


INDEX 


729 


Justice  of  Peace,  conduct  during 
riots,  385,  386. 

Benet,  Hon.  William  C,  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Records,  32. 

Benoist,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Berkeley,  county  of,  Percival  ap- 
pointed register  of,  176 ;  defined, 
193;  direction  as  to  representation 
of,  198,  199;  opposed  by  inhabitants 
of,  207 ;  Ludwell's  instruction  as  to, 
236,  237,  238;  representation  fixed 
by  people  under  Archdale,  282; 
county  generally  for  Church  of 
England,  329. 

Berkeley,  Lady,  wife  of  three  govern- 
ors in  succession,  235  n. ;  sells  Pro- 
prietorship to  Archdale,  270;  Pro- 
prietors purchase  from  her  as  Dame 
Ludwell,  272,  290. 

Berkeley,  Lord  John,  one  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, 56 ;  sketch  of,  62 ;  chancel- 
lor under  Fundamental  Constitution, 
110;  Dr.  William  Scrivener  deputy 
for,  124, 134 ;  becomes  Palatine,  138 ; 
Sir  John  Yeamans  deputy  for,  156 ; 
death  of,  268,  269;  failure  to  pay  his 
quota  to  joint  stock,  mentioned,  274 ; 
share  passes  to  Landgrave  Joseph 
Blake,  388 ;  mentioned,  710. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  mentioned,  2 ; 
one  of  the  Proprietors,  56 ;  sketch  of, 
63,  64 ;  commission  as  Grovernor  of 
Carolina  sent  to,  74;  opposition  to 
free  schools  and  printing,  108 ;  Ler- 
derer,  the  explorer,  sent  by,  128; 
Col.  Philip  Ludwell,  secretary  to, 
2:35;  sketch  of,  269,  270;  failure  to 
pay  quota  to  joint  stock,  mentioned, 
274 ;  contentions  over  share  of,  387, 
460,  673,  674. 

Berkly,  John,  grant  to,  180. 

Bermuda,  first  colony  sent  by  way 
of,  8;  adventurers  from,  75,  114; 
part  of  fleet  reach,  123;  Governor 
Sayle  of,  124 ;  adventurers  from,  128 ; 
mentioned,  137,  151. 

Bermudian  sloop,  accompanies  the 
Carolina  and  meets  the  Barbadian 
sloop,  126. 

Berresford,  John,  of  Archdale's  Coun- 
cil, 280. 

Berresford,    Richard,  Clerk    of  the 


Peace,  joins  in  petition  to  Sothell, 
230;  appointed  deputy  by  Sothell, 
231 ;  joins  in  charges  against  Gov- 
ernor Colleton,  236;  sent  by  Assem- 
bly to  Savannah  Indians,  456 ;  signs 
Governor  Johnson's  reports  on  con- 
dition of  colony,  477 ;  commissioner 
of  free  school,  488 ;  sent  with  Boone 
to  England,  530;  letter  of  Assembly 
to  Boone  and,  550;  presents  memo- 
rial to  Commissioners  of  Trade  and 
Plantations,  551,  552,  554;  men- 
tioned, 569,  570;  attends  before 
Board  of  Trade,  571 ;  Lord  Carteret 
questions  right  of,  to  represent  As- 
sembly, 572 ;  appeal  of,  encouraged 
by  Royal  Government,  681. 

Bertie,  Edward,  Proprietors  appoint 
Secretary,  677;  one  of  trustees  to 
receive  surrender  of  the  charter,  679. 

Bertie,  Henry,  represents  Proprietary 
of  minor  Duke  of  Beaufort,  635; 
purchases  sha^e  of  Sir  Wm.  Berke- 
ley, 676;  and  surrenders  it  to  the 
Crown,  679. 

Bertie,  James,  addresses  of  Lords  of 
Trade  in  behalf  of  minor  Duke  of 
Beaufort,  538 ;  signs  for  Duke  Beau- 
fort order  to  dissolve  Assembly,  627 ; 
finds  heirs  of  Sothell  and  purchases 
share,  674,  675,  677 ;  and  surrenders 
it  to  the  Crown,  679. 

Bigg^,  Timothy,  owner  of  lot  in  old 
Charles  Town,  164. 

Bills  of  Credit,  issued,  482,  523,  524, 
585,  626. 

Bill  of  Eights,  241. 

Blackboard.    See  Thatch. 

Blackstone,  Sir  William,  quoted  52, 
59,  159  71.,  190  ^J.,  253. 

Black  Cattle.     See  Cattle. 

Blair,  Rev.  James,  bishop  of  London's 
Commissary  for  Virginia,  420,  471. 

Blake,  Benjamin,  leader  of  Dissen- 
sion movement  to  South  Carolina, 
1»4 ;  mentioned,  267,  288. 

Blake,  Joseph,  attempts  to  allay  dis- 
content, 223 ;  on  committee  to  con- 
sider Fundamental  Constitutions, 
225;  mentioned,  232,  254;  Randolph 
complains  of,  260 ;  chosen  by  Coun- 
cil to  act  as  Governor,  267;    Lord 


730 


INDEX 


Berkeley's  Proprietary  share  con- 
veyed to,  269 ;  member  of  Archdale's 
Council,  280 ;  appointed  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor, 288 ;  mentioned,  292 ;  becomes 
a  Proprietor,  Ibid. ;  not  confirmed 
as  Governor,  302;  Bohun  opposes, 
304;  letter  of  Proprietors  to,  306; 
mentioned,  318,  326,  345 ;  an  Indian 
trader,  347 ;  conflict  with  Trott,  370 ; 
suspends  Trott,  372 ;  death  of.  Ibid.  ; 
mentioned,  388,  440,  689 ;  liberal  to 
all  Christians,  698. 

Blake,  Joseph,  son  of  former,  owner, 
of  Proprietary  share  formerly  of 
Lord  Berkeley,  388 ;  mentioned,  428, 
429,  437,  438,  459,  469,  635;  sur- 
renders Proprietary  share  to  the 
Crown,  679. 

Blake,  Lady,  or  Madam,  title  of,  317  n. ; 
a  Baptist,  326;  contributions  to  St. 
Philip's  Church,  334 ;  appoints  Boone, 
representative  of  her  minor  son. 
Proprietor,  469;  her  plantation  de- 
stroyed by  Indians,  546. 

Blakeway,  Major  William,  joins  in 
letter  to  Governor  Johnson,  647. 

Blaney,  Robert,  Secretary  to  Lord 
Ashley,  Owen  writes  to,  136. 

Blenheim,  victory  of,  366 ;  mentioned, 
452. 

Blessing,  The  Ship,  brings  instructions 
from  Proprietors,  139;  brings  out 
several  families,  144;  and  other 
small  parties,  180. 

Blount,  Tom,  The  Indian  Chief,  Gov- 
ernor Pollock  of  North  Carolina 
negotiates  with,  525. 

Bocquet,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Bohun,  Edmund,  commissioned  Chief 
Justice,  298;  sketch  of,  299,  300; 
Proprietors  write  concerning,  Ibid. ; 
opposes  Governor  Blake,  304 ;  corre- 
spondence in  regard  to,  306,  307; 
death  of,  309;  mentioned,  692. 

Boiseau,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Bond,  Eev.  Samuel,  Governor  Sayles 
applies  for,  to  be  sent  to  colony,  131, 
132;  mentioned,  183. 

Bonneau,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Bonneau,  Paul,  member  of  Assembly, 
239. 

Bonnet,  Stede,  Chief  Justice  Trott's 


charge  in  regard  to  mentioned,  254; 
Pirate  Thatch  meets,  589;  piratical 
career  begun,  593;  sails  for  South 
Carolina,  594 ;  his  capture  off  Charles 
Town  bar,  Ibid. ;  sails  for  North 
Carolina,  Ibid. ;  joins  Thatch,  Ibid. ; 
in  company  on  several  cruises,  595 ; 
sails  for  North  Carolina,  595 ;  accepts 
pardon,  Ibid.;  sails  again,  Ibid.; 
makes  several  captures,  596 ;  Rhett's 
expedition  against.  Ibid.,  597,  598, 
599;  battle  with,  600,  601,  602,  603; 
captured,  603,  604;  escapes,  609; 
recaptured,  612;  his  trial,  616,  617, 
618;  appeals  for  mercy,  619,  620; 
executed,  620,  621 ;  mentioned,  690. 

Boone,  Ensign,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Boone,  John,  member  of  Council,  197. 

Boone,  Joseph,  leader  of  party,  403; 
sent  to  England,  425;  induces  mer- 
chants in  London  to  join  him  in 
representation  of  dissenters'  case, 
applies  to  Lord  Granville  to  be 
heard,  428 ;  appears  before  Proprie- 
tors, refuted  by  Lord  Granville,  429 ; 
assumes  championship  of  Marston, 
430 ;  presents  memorial  to  House  of 
Lords,  431,432 ;  memorial  considered, 
433, 434 ;  Governor  Johnson  explains 
that  Boone  is  a  dissenter,  439 ;  Board 
of  Trade  encourages  Boone,  456; 
elated  with  success,  461 ;  presents 
another  memorial,  bringing  charges 
against  Governor  Johnson,  462,  463, 
464;  Governor  Johnson  addresses 
Assembly  upon  subject,  465,  466; 
Commons  propound  questions  to, 
refuses  to  submit  to  examination, 
467;  Commons  address  Governor 
Johnson,  also  Lords  Proprietors  on 
his  memorial,  467,  468,  469,  470; 
again  sent  to  England,  530;  his 
settlement  on  Tugaloo  burned  by 
Indians,  546;  Assembly  addresses 
letters  to  Boone  and  Berresford  in 
England,  550;  with  Berresford  ap- 
peals to  Royal  Government  for  pro- 
tection of  province,  554 ;  committee 
of  Assembly  appointed  to  correspond 
with,  569 ;  lays  before  Mr.  King  ad- 
dress of  Representatives  and  Inhab- 


INDEX 


731 


itantsof  South  Carolina,  570 ;  appears 
before  Board  of  Trade,  571,  572; 
urges  Board  of  Trade  to  get  rid  of 
charter,  633,  634;  mentioned,  666; 
with  Barnwell,  agent  of  convention, 
procured  hearing  before  Lords  Jus- 
tice Regents  in  Council,  671. 

Bordeaux,  Hugiienot  family  of,  323  n. 

Boston,  Mass.,  mentioned,  7;  com- 
merce with,  479. 

Bounetheau,  Huguenot  family  of, 
;i23  71. 

Bourne,  Edward,  postmaster,  352. 

Bowman,  William,  deputy  for  Lord 
Craven,  124 ;  did  not  come  out,  155. 

Boyd,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Boyd,  John,  member  of  Assembly, 
23<). 

Bradley,  Samuel,  charged  with  being 
one  of  Kidd's  men,  262. 

Bray,  Kev.  Thomas,  library  found  by 
efforts  of,  353 ;  mentioned  as  Bishop 
of  London's  commissary  in  Mary- 
land, 420;  founder  of  William  and 
Mary  College,  Va.,  and  Parochial 
Libraries,  471 ;  sends  books  for  lay- 
man's library,  701. 

Bray,  William,  with  wife  and  children 
put  to  death  by  Indians,  534. 

Brayne  or  Braine,  Captain  Henry, 
ensign  in  Sandford's  expedition,  82; 
parts  company  witli  Sandford's  ves- 
sel. Ibid.;  Sandford  espies  and  sa- 
lutes him,  87 ;  rejoins  Sandford,  88; 
master  of  the  Carolina,  115  ;  placed 
under  command  of  West,  116;  sent 
to  Virginia,  136 ;  mentioned,  139 ;  an 
old  colonist,  154 ;  John  Coming,  mate 
of,  162;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town, 
163  n. ;  accusations  against  O' Sulli- 
van, 170. 

Brewton,  Michael,  captain  of  militia 
of  Gibbes  party,  491 ;  elected  powder 
receiver,  582, 583 ;  foreman  of  Grand 
Jury  in  the  pirates'  case,  610. 

Brick,  houses  to  be  built  of,  573,  574. 

Bridge  Town,  Barbadoes,  description 
of,  3r)5. 

Bristol, England,  communication  with, 
iO.'i. 

Bristow's  Plantation,  282. 

Broad   River,    Rlbault   ascends   and 


erects  stone  pillar  on,  45 ;  Sandford 
names  Yeamans  Harbor,  87. 

Broughton,  Major  George,  comes  to 
the  defence  of  Charles  Town,  397. 

Broughton,  Thomas,  mentioned  as 
Lieutenant  Governor,  35,  36 ;  one  of 
the  Council  who  signs  Church  act, 
406;  signs  Governor  Johnson's  re- 
port on  condition  of  colony,  477; 
commissioner  of  free  school,  488; 
elected  Governor,  489;  contest  for 
the  office,  490,  491 ;  mentioned,  497 ; 
commissioned  as  an  assistant  judge 
to  try  pirates,  567  n. ;  appointed  one 
of  Council,  568 ;  again  on  commission 
for  trial  of  pirates,  575 ;  commission 
to  regulate  Indian  trade,  626;  left 
out  of  council,  640. 

Buildings,  during  Proprietary  period, 
703,  704. 

Bull,  Stephen,  master  on  board  Caro- 
lina in  fleet  in  the  Downes,  121 ; 
deputy  for  Lord  Ashley,  124 ;  writes 
to  Lord  Ashley,  144 ;  mentioned,  155 ; 
member  of  Grand  Council,  161; 
owner  of  lots  in  Old  Town,  1G4 ;  Pro- 
prietors' deputy,  210;  disqualified 
from  holding  office,  231 ;  one  of 
Archdale's  Council,  280 ;  applies  for 
clergyman,  318,  an  Indian  Trader, 
347;  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  introduction  of  rice,  348,  349. 

Bull,  William,  mentioned  as  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  35,  36;  a  member  of 
Council,  642, 643,  648. 

Bull,  William,  son  of  former,  men- 
tioned, 17  ;  as  Lieutenant  Grovemor, 
35,36. 

Bull's  Island.  125. 

Burke,  Priscilla,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Bumham,  Dr.  Charles,  member  of 
committee  to  revise  Fundamental 
Constitution,  2*)3. 

Burroughs,  Seaman,  captain  militia, 
escapes  Indian  massacre,  534. 

Butler,  Bichard,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 571 ;  member  of  Council,  642, 
648. 

Buttall,  Charles,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Butter,  exported  to  West  Indies,  350. 


732 


INDEX 


Cabot,  John,  mentioned,  40. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  mentioned,  40. 

Cacique,  Indian,  entertains  Sandford, 
83,  84,  85,  86,  87,  88. 

Cacique,  Title  under  Fundamental 
Constitution,  96,  97,  98 ;  member  of 
Parliament,  102 ;  appointed.  111 ; 
each  to  have  a  barony,  141 ;  men- 
tioned, 176,  258,  291 ;  patent  offered 
for  £50,  292;  denied  legislative 
powers,  293;  mentioned,  376,  378, 
539,  680 ;  list  of.  Appendix  IV,  718. 

Caliboug's  Sound,  Sandford  enters  and 
describes,  89. 

Callander,  nobleman,  enters  into 
bonds  for  settlement  of  Lord  Car- 
dross's  colony,  195. 

Campbell,  Sir  George,  of  Lord  Car- 
dross's  Company,  195. 

Campbell,  Lord  William,  Governor, 
mentioned,  36. 

Canada,  French  in,  a  menace  to  Eng- 
lish colonies,  4 ;  mentioned,  538,  553. 

Canoes,  act  to  prevent  stealing  of, 
284. 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  411,  439, 
471. 

Cantey,  Captain,  of  Barnwell's  expedi- 
tion to  North  Carolina,  499. 

Cape  Fear,  Colony  of,  92,  93,  156. 

Cape  Fear,  Sir  John  Yeamans  arrives 
at,  and  explores,  80 ;  Sandford  sails 
from,  82 ;  returns  to,  92 ;  mentioned 
113, 116, 176 ;  visits  of  pirates  to,  204 ; 
mentioned,  235,  236,  286;  pirates 
driven  from  Providence  swarm  in, 
589;  Rhett's  expedition  against  pi- 
rates at,  596,  597,  598 ;  nest  of  pirates 
at,  broken  up,  621. 

Cardross,  Lord,  colony  of,  mentioned, 
6 ;  organizes  Scotch  colony  to  settle 
in  Carolina,  195 ;  to  be  independent 
of  Charles  Town,  196;  mentioned, 
203,  210,  214 ;  retires,  215 ;  Governor 
Morton  warned  by  him  of  Spanish 
invasion,  216;  colony  destroyed,  217, 
219;  mentioned,  302,  494,  547,  575, 
684. 

Caribbees,  mentioned,  187. 

Caribbee  Islands,  charter  of  all  given 
to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  54;  men- 
tioned, 76;  exports  to,  189. 


Carlisle,  Earl  of,  charter  given  to, 
54 ;  mentioned,  58, 65 ;  complications 
as  to  Barbadoes,  growing  out  of, 
68,  69,  70. 

Carolana,  Province  of,  grant  of,  to 
General  Robert  Heath,  54;  distin- 
guished from  grant  of  Carolina,  55 ; 
mentioned,  64. 

Carolina,  Province  of,  grant  of,  56; 
the  model  of,  57,  58;  territory  de- 
scribed in  charter  of  1663,  64 ;  pro- 
visions of,  65. 

Carolina  Coffee  House,  Amy  treats 
emigrants  at,  271 ;  Amy  renders  im- 
portant services  at,  273,  292,  316; 
John  Barnwell  writes  from,  577; 
mentioned,  676. 

Carolina,  The  Ship,  one  of  the  fleet 
sent  out  by  the  Proprietors,  115; 
at  anchor  in  the  Downes,  120;  pas- 
sengers in,  121;  reaches  Bermuda, 
123 ;  Hugh  Carteret's  account  of  trip 
in,  125 ;  sent  to  Virginia  and  return, 
131 ;  mentioned,  137,  138 ;  sails  for 
Barbadoes,  143 ;  mentioned,  162, 180. 

Caroline,  Fort,  48. 

Carpenters,  Governor  West  suspends 
all  occupations  but  carpenters  and 
smiths,  147 ;  wages  of,  482. 

Carroll,  B.  R.,  Collections  of,  18. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  one  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, 56;  sketch  of,  63;  cape 
named  in  honor  of,  92 ;  Admiral, 
under  Fundamental  Constitutions, 
110 ;  Deputy  of,  124 ;  death  of,  269 ; 
mentioned,  52(5. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  son  of  former, 
succeeds  his  father  as  Proprietor, 
269 ;  represented  by  Earl  of  Bath, 
291. 

Carteret,  Hugh,  account  of  trip  from 
Bermuda,  125;  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134;  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Carteret,  James,  mentioned.  111; 
made  Landgrave,  141 :  see  List  of 
Landgraves,  Appendix  IV,  717. 

Carteret,  Lord  John,  a  minor  repre- 
sented by  Lord  Granville,  387 ;  men- 
tioned, 428,  429,  438;'  represented 
by  Lord  Craven,  459;  becomes  of 
age,  503,  504;  chosen  Palatine,  526; 


INDEX 


733 


addresses  Lords  of  Trade,  538,  540, 
541 ;  mentioned,  571 ;  appears  before 
Lords  of  Trade,  572 ;  signs  order  to 
dissolve  Assembly,  626,  627;  men- 
tioned, 635 ;  refers  Mr.  Yonge,  agent 
of  Governor  and  Council  to  other 
Proprietors,  636 ;  not  a  party  to  the 
surrender  of  the  charter,  678 ;  agree- 
ment between  the  King  and  himself, 
679,  680. 

Gary,  Colonel,  of  North  Carolina, 
mentioned,  497,  502. 

Cary,  Captain  George,  accompanies 
Sandford,82,  84. 

Cary,  Thomas,  one  of  Archdale's  coun- 
cil, 280 ;  becomes  surety  to  Governor 
Nathaniel  Johnson,  31X). 

Cassor, •'Greater  or  Lesser,  territory 
of,  179. 

Catawbas,  under  Captain  Cantey,  on 
Barnwell's  expedition,  499;  no  as- 
sistance from,  536. 

Cattle,  Proprietors  refuse  to  send  out 
any,  187;  rapid  increase  of,  188; 
black  cattle,  284 ;  great  increase  of, 
351,  352. 

Caurituck  Inlet,  resort  of  pirates, 
2%. 

Cavaliers,  mentioned,  12,  317. 

Chalmers,  George,  author,  18,  92. 

Charles  I,  grant  of  Carolana  to  Robert 
Heath,  49;  grant  of  Barbadoes  to 
Earl  of  Carlisle,  54,  57 ;  mentioned, 
64,  67,  68. 

Charles  n,  grant  of  Carolina  to  Pro- 
prietors (1663),  56;  mentioned,  57, 
64;  grants  second  charter  (1665), 
61 ;  Sandford  takes  possession  in  his 
name,  83;  mentioned,  179;  pirates 
encouraged  by,  205 ;  Henry  Morgan 
knighted  by.  Ibid.;  death  of,  209; 
Habeas  Corpus  Act  of,  247;  men- 
tioned, 248,  249;  encouragement  to 
pirates,  255 ;  shares  booty,  256,  262 ; 
furnishes  transportation  to  Hugue- 
nots, 322 ;  mentioned,  402,  409,  433. 

Charles  IX,  gives  permission  to  es- 
tablish a  colony  of  Huguenots,  44; 
province  named  in  honor  of,  48. 

Charles,  Fort,  Ribault  leaves  garri- 
son at,  45 ;  abandoned,  47. 

Charleston    Library,    Ms.    copy    of 


Locke's  Fundamental  Constitutions 
in,  105.  ' 

Charles  Town,  one  of  principal  points 
of  settlement  of  U.  S.,  1 ;  colonists 
at,  distant  from  others,  2,  4 ;  settle 
around  the  town,  6 ;  for  many  years 
embodied  all  of  Carolina,  7;  town 
laid  out  on  Ashley  River,  145 ;  first 
Parliament  held  at,  156;  directions 
as  to  laying  out,  161 ;  to  be  called 
Charles  Town,  182;  description  of, 
183;  a  minister  in,  184;  Archdale 
instructed  to  fortify,  279;  election 
to  be  held  at,  282 ;  population  of,  and 
streets  in,  341,  342,  343;  trade  of, 
345;  fortifications  of,  395;  attack 
upon,  by  French  and  Spaniards,  396, 
397,  398,  399,  400 ;  made  into  a  parish 
by  the  name  of  St.  Philip's,  416; 
houses  to  be  of  brick,  673;  fortifica- 
tions of,  579 ;  high  rate  of  provisions 
in,  580 ;  houses  and  buildings  in,  703, 
704. 

Charters,  governments  in  the  nature 
of,  52  ;  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  52 ;  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  53;  James  I  to  Thomas 
Gates,  53,  54  :  to  Earl  of  Marl- 
borough, 54;  Charles  I  to  Earl  of 
Carlisle,  54;  to  Robert  Heath,  54, 
55;  to  Lord  Baltimore,  56;  to  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  56;  provisions 
of  charter  to  Sir  Robert  Heath,  58, 
59,  60;  first  charter  to  Proprietors 
(1663),  61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  66,  67,  68; 
second  charter  (1665),  76,  77,  78,  79; 
Royal  charter  mentioned,  197,  226, 
290,  291,  410. 

Chastaigner,  Alex.  Thette,  member  of 
Assembly,  239 ;  grant  to,  322  ?i. 

Chattahoochee  Siver,  fight  with  Ind- 
ians upon,  380. 

Cherokees,  Indians,  536,  546. 

Chester,  county  Palatine,  59. 

Chevalier,  Huguenot  family,  323  n. 

Chicken,  George,  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238;  Captain,  defeats 
the  Indians,  536 ;  Colonel,  expedition 
against,  546;  on  commission  for 
trial  of  pirates,  609 ;  mentioned,  684. 

Chicora,  the  country  of,  42. 

Chief  Justice,  Bohun  sent  out  as,  297. 


734 


INDEX 


298 ;  Nicholas  Trott,  390, 529 ;  Robert 
Gibbes,  465;  see  Appendix  VI,  list 
of. 

Cliief  Justice  under  Fundamental 
Constitutions,  141. 

Chief  Marshal  under  Fundamental 
Constitutions,  141. 

Chocta-Kuchy  River,  480. 

Christ  Church  Parish,  established, 
447  ;  representation  of,  561,  563. 

Chufytachygs,  Emperor  of,  137. 

Church  Acts,  mentioned,  37;  intro- 
duced, 406;  preamble  to,  407,  408; 
provisions  of,  409,  Act  for  estab- 
lishment of  religious  worship,  416; 
provisions  of,  420,  421,  422 ;  Act  es- 
tablishing a  Lay  Board,  441,  442, 
443 ;  Governor  recommends  repeal  of, 
446;  repealed,  447 ;  another  passed, 
447,  448, 449 ;  Act  of  1712  upon  same 
subject,  508,  560. 

Churne,  Anthony,  suit  of,  149. 

Church  of  England,  established,  67; 
danger  to,  427 ;  controversies  in  re- 
gard to,  originating  in  England,  439; 
mentioned,  446,  460;  its  work  in 
province,  698. 

Churches,  mentioned,  183,  331,  334, 
335,  336,  337,  695,  696,  697,  698, 
699. 

Churchmen,  Archdale's  description  of 
those  in  Carolina,  315 ;  from  Barba- 
does,  329 ;  number  of,  338. 

Clarendon  County,  laid  out,  75,  76. 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  one  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, 56;  sketch  of,  61;  men- 
tioned, 109;  enters  into  agreement 
for  carrying  on  Indian  trade,  177; 
differences  with  Lord  Ashley,  255; 
death  of,  in  exile,  268;  disposition 
of  his  share,  271,  387,  459,  460,  674, 
675 ;  his  policy  mentioned,  404. 

Clayton,  Alexius,  trustee  to  accept 
surrender,  679. 

Cleland,  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Clergy,  character  of,  419;  mainten- 
ance of,  542,  700. 

Climate,  accounts  of,  186. 

Cochran,  Captain  John,  sent  to  learn 
cause  of  Indian  discontent,  533; 
slain,  534. 

Cochran,     James,     protest    against 


Church  Act,  409;  signs  address  to 
King,  571. 

Cochran,  Sir  John,  one  of  Lord  Car- 
dross's  company,  195. 

Codification  of  Laws,  Trott's,  517, 
518,  519,  520,  521,  522,  523. 

Coin,  Spanish,  Act  fixing  value  of, 
303. 

Cole,  John,  servant,  150. 

Cole,  Michael,  Captain,  commander 
frigate  Sarah,  commissioned  to  try 
pirates,  575. 

Cole,  Eichard,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Coligny,  Admiral,  colony  of  French 
Protestants,  44,  45,  46,  47. 

Colleton,  Sir  Charles,  protests  against 
Church  Act,  409,  410;  Marston 
charged  with  slandering,  422. 

Colleton,  James,  mentioned,  122;  ar- 
rives as  Governor  and  Landgrave, 
and  stops  expedition  to  St.  Augus- 
tine, 218 ;  his  devotion  to  interest  of 
Proprietors,  224;  his  instructions, 
225 ;  acts  passed  during  his  adminis- 
tration. Ibid.;  produces  letter  of 
Proprietors  in  regard  to  Fundamen- 
tal Constitution,  226;  further  in- 
structions of  Proprietors  to,  227; 
declares  martial  law,  228;  is  ban- 
ished, 231;  Ludwell  charged  to 
inquire  into  his  conduct,  236 ;  men- 
tioned, 246,  266,  292,  327  n.,  497. 

Colleton,  Sir  John,  one  of  the  Propri- 
etors, 56;  sketch  of,  63;  mentioned, 
69;  addresses  communications  to 
Duke  of  Albemarle  about  settlement 
of  Carolina,  70,  71,  78;  death  of, 
alluded  to,  122,  271 ;  mentioned,  268, 
271;  mentioned  as  from  Barbadoes, 
327. 

Colleton,  Sir  Peter,  son  of  Sir  John, 
Will  Owen  deputy  of,  136;  con- 
tributes to  fund  for  Indian  trade, 
177 ;  mentioned,  218 ;  death  of,  271 ; 
member  of  Royal  African  Co.,  357 ; 
mentioned,  674. 

Colleton,  Sir  John,  son  of  Sir  Peter, 
minor  represented  by  Wm.  Thorn- 
burg,  277 ;  becomes  of  age,  387,  388 ; 
mentioned,  428;  addresses  Board  of 
Trade,  538;  signs  order  dissolving 


INDEX 


735 


Assembly,  627 ;  mentioned,  635 ;  sur- 
renders charter,  679. 

Colleton,  Thomas,  Proprietors'  fleet 
consigned  to,  on  reaching  Barbadoes, 
116;  influence  of,  to  secure  emi- 
grants, 122;  bill  for  sugar  drawn 
on,  139, 140 ;  with  Mr.  Stode  fits  out 
vessel  for  Carolina,  143. 

Colleton,  County  of,  laid  out,  193; 
election  to  be  held  in,  198;  men- 
tioned, 199;  number  of  representa- 
tives, 236;  names  of,  239;  election 
to  be  held  in,  282 ;  dissenters  settle 
in,  329 ;  representation  and  address 
by  members  of,  378,  379,  protest 
against  action  of  Commons,  384; 
they  write  to  Proprietors,  385;  op- 
pose naturalization  of  Huguenots, 
407;  send  Mr.  Ash  to  Europe,  412; 
John  Ash,  son  of  former  member 
for,  445 ;  apportionment  of  represen- 
tatives, 559. 

Colleton,  Families  of,  several  from 
the  Dorchester  colony,  327. 

CoUetons,  The,  mentioned,  154 

Colonists,  the  landing  of,  125,  129. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  course  of,  39 ; 
mentioned,  44,  45. 

Combahee  Eiver,  mentioned,  126, 179, 
236,  535,  555. 

Comerton,  Philip,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Coming,  Affra,  joins  her  husband  John 
in  surrendering  land  for  town,  163; 
writes  letter  to  her  sister,  308 ;  gives 
lands  for  a  glebe  to  the  Church,  333 ; 
mentioned,  697. 

Coming,  John,  mate  of  Captain  Hal- 
sted  of  the  Carolina,  156,  162;  sur- 
renders land  for  the  town,  163;  owner 
of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164 ;  mentioned, 
333;  plantation  of,  M5. 

Coming's  Point,  town  laid  out  on, 
163. 

Commerce,  Gov.  Johnson's  report  on, 
477,  481,  483;  pirates  prey  on,  565. 

Commissary,  ecclesiastical  office  of, 
471. 

Commons  of  England,  Tories  attempt 
to  control  by  Test  and  Corporation 
Act,  404,  405,  407,  426,  427. 

Common  Law,  adopted,  520. 


Common  Prayer,  Book  of,  the  use  of 
prescribed,  409. 

Compton,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  London,  333 
n.,  418. 

Conant,  Bichard,  chosen  member  of 
Council,  161 ;  appointed  Captain,  171. 

Cond6,  Admiral,  death  of,  mentioned, 
319. 

Confederate  State,  mentioned,  77. 

Congarees  Indians,  mentioned,  537. 

Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians 
form  White  Meeting,  or  Indepen- 
dence Church,  334 ;  mentioned,  391, 
4»4,  698,  699. 

Connecticut,  mentioned,  3,  5,  6,  294, 
29<). 

Conveyances,  form  of,  objected  to,  241. 

Convention,  Assembly  resolves  itself 
into,  655;  elects  and  proclaims  a 
governor.  Ibid. ;  but  soon  votes 
itself;  again  an  assembly,  656. 

Cook,  Captain,  reports  pirates,  597, 
598. 

Cooper  Biver,  or  Wando,  banks  to  be 
examined  for  suitable  place  for 
town,  146,  182;  French  settle  on, 
233. 

Coosaw  Biver,  Ribault  ascends,  44; 
mentioned,  555. 

Corbin,  Bey.  William,  mentioned, 
33:i  n. 

Cordes,  the  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Cordes,  Anthony,  Dr.,  337. 

Com,  exports  of,  350. 

Cotton,  one  of  the  plants  which  West 
was  instructed  to  take  with  him  for 
trial,  116;  exported  before  end  of 
17th  century,  348 ;  cotton  goods  im- 
ported from  West  Indies,  478 ;  men- 
tioned, 688. 

Courlis,  Daniel,  member  of  Assem- 
bly, 239  n. 

Courtenay,  Hon.  W.  B.,  mentioned, 
17,  30;  Commissioner  of  Public 
Records,  31 ;  historical  work  of, 
31,  32. 

Courts,  held  in  Charles  Town,  7 ; 
County  Court  under  Fundamental 
Constitution,  98;  eight  Supreme 
Courts  under  same,  99;  Precinct 
Courts,  101 ;  for  trial  of  small  and 
mean  causes,  225 ;  same  person  judge 


736 


INDEX 


and  sheriff  of,  241;  jurisdiction  to 
pass  upon  acts  of  Assembly  ques- 
tioned, 242;  alleged  scenes  of  alter- 
cation, 252;  system  of,  691,  692, 
693. 

Couterier,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Coxe,  Daniel,  description  of  Carolana, 
sketch  of,  55  and  n. 

Craggs,  Secretary,  mentioned,  634, 
669  n.,  670  n. 

Craven,  Anthony,  mentioned,  547. 

Craven  County,  laid  out,  193 ;  French 
and  Swiss  settle  in,  233;  Repre- 
sentatives of,  236,  238,  239,  282; 
mentioned,  329;  part  of,  made  into 
a  parish  of  St.  James,  Santee,  447 ; 
Representatives  of,  559. 

Craven,  Hon.  Charles,  mentioned,  249 ; 
testimony  as  to  character  of  clergy, 
419 ;  appointment  as  Governor,  491 ; 
order  to,  in  regard  to  Gibbes,  492; 
commissioned,  496 ;  assumes  govern- 
ment, 505 ;  speech  to  Assembly,  505, 
606,507;  his  measures,  508;  conduct 
of,  upon  Indian  uprising,  533,  534, 
535,536,  537,  538,  539,  540;  negotia- 
tions with  Gov.  Spotswood  of  Vir- 
ginia for  assistance,  545 ;  meets  new 
outbreak,  546;  leaves  for  England, 
548;  mentioned,  549,  564,  568;  his 
character,  690. 

Craven,  William  Earl,  one  of  the 
Proprietors,  56 ;  sketch  of,  61 ;  dep- 
uty for,  124,  156 ;  writes  to  Board  of 
Trade  about  pirates,  206,  219;  last 
survivors  of  Proprietors,  271 ;  men- 
tioned, 273 ;  attends  Board  of  Pro- 
prietors, 276,  277;  death  of,  290; 
mentioned,  526,  711. 

Craven,  Lord  William,  succeeds  to 
Proprietorship,  290 ;  mentioned,  387, 
428;  approves  Church  acts,  429; 
mentioned,  438 ;  becomes  Palatine, 
458;  mentioned,  459;  instructions 
to  Gov.  Tynte,  486;  death  of,  504; 
mentioned,  526,  716. 

Craven,  Lord  William,  son  of  above, 
succeeds  to  Proprietorship;  repre- 
sented by  Fulwar  Skipwith,  627, 
635 ;  surrenders  to  Crown,  679. 

Greek  Indians ;  battle  with  Spaniards 
and  Apalachis,  380. 


Croft,  John,  assistant  judge  to  try 
pirates,  610. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  mentioned,  57,  64, 
213. 

Crosskeyes,  Joseph,  commissioner  of 
Library,  353. 

Crossley,  servant,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Culpepper,  John,  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  144 ;  appointed  arbitrator,  149 ; 
appointed  Surveyor  and  makes 
sketch  of  Charles  Town,  160 ;  owner 
of  lot  in  Charles  Town,  164  n. ;  al- 
leged disturbance  by,  169;  men- 
tioned, 331. 

Curacoa,  trade  with,  295,  479. 

Currency,  482, 483.  See  Bills  of  Credit 
and  Coin. 

Cussatoes  Indians,  mentioned,  177. 

Cuthbert,  Captain  William,  on  com- 
mission to  try  pirates,  567,  575. 

Cutler,  Thomas,  Proprietors  send  him 
out  to  search  for  mines,  348. 

Dalcho,  Kev.  Frederick,  M.D.,  work 
of ,  25 ;  opinion  as  to  yellow  fever,  310. 

Dale,  Thomas,  killed  by  Indians,  393. 

Dalton,  Joseph,  elected  Representa- 
tive, 125 ;  joins  in  application  for 
minister,  132;  mentioned,  136;  ac- 
count, as  Secretary  of  colony,  144  ; 
complains  of  O'Sullivan,  156 ;  owner 
of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164;  application 
for  clergyman  referred  to,  318; 
writes  in  reference  to  Dr.  Wood- 
ward, 346. 

Daniel,  Bobert,  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  182;  excluded  from  general 
pardon,  246;  consulted  by  Proprie- 
tors on  Fundamental  Constitution, 
291;  copy  sent  out  by  him;  he  is 
made  Landgrave,  292;  mentioned, 
327  n.,  367,  375,  377 ;  takes  part  in 
expedition  to  St.  Augustine,  381, 
382,  383;  appointed  Deputy  Gover- 
nor of  North  Carolina,  461;  move- 
ment against,  461 ;  appointed  Deputy 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  535; 
assumes  government,  548 ;  measures 
of,  555 ;  purchases  Rebel  Scots,  558 ; 
joins  Boone  and  Berresford  in  ap- 
peal to  Royal  Government,  569,  570 ; 
address  in  regard  to  application  for 


INDEX 


737 


man  of  war,  action,  574;  in  regard 

to  pirates,  575 ;  mentioned,  684,  690. 

Danson  versus  Trott,  case  of,  271, 

673,  ()74,  675,  676. 

Danson,  John,  Archdale  conveys  share 
to,  460;    mentioned,  465,  627,  635, 

674,  676. 

Danson,  Maxy,  widow  of  John,  im- 
prisoned for  refusal  to  obey  decree, 
676 ;  appeals  to  House  of  Lords,  and 
sets  aside  decree.  Ibid. 

Darien  Colony,  from  wreck  of,  310. 

D'Arsens,  John,  grant  to,  266,  322  n. 

D'Arsens,  widow  of  John,  marries 
Thomas  Smith,  266  ii. 

Davis,  Professor  B.  Means,  commis- 
sioner of  Public  Records,  32. 

Davis,  William,  member  of  Assembly, 
239  V. 

Dawes,  Captain  Philip,  on  commis- 
sion to  try  pirates,  575,  609. 

Dawhow  River,  85. 

Deane,  Samuel,  on  commission  to  try 
pirates,  567,  575,  609. 

Dearsly  Creek,  399. 

De  Cossey,  Stephen  James,  pirate, 
575,  (50."). 

Deeds,  Recording  of,  158  and  n. 

Deer,  1S8. 

De  Genillat,  grant  to,  322 ;  family  of, 
323  n. 

De  Graffenried,  Baron,  496,  497,  503 ; 
Landgrave,  718. 

Delaware,  mentioned,  25,  56,  229. 

De  la  Pierre,  Rev.,  3.3(),  339. 

De  la  Conseillere,  Benj.,  member  of 
Commons,  571 ;  commissioner  to  try 
pirates,  609,  642,  643,  648. 

De  la  Conseillere,  Huguenot  family 
of,  323  n. 

De  Leiseline,  Huguenot  family  of, 
323  n. 

De  Leon,  Juan  Ponce,  40. 

De  Lysle,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Demonstrations  of  State  of  South 
Carolina,  554  n. 

De  Mont,  Francis,  pirate,  575. 

Denner,  Laur,  opposes  Church  acts,  409. 

Dennis,  Benjamin,  schoolmaster,  495, 
510. 

Departing  the  Province,  regulations  | 
in  regard  to,  161,  162. 
3b 


Deprivation,  Ecclesiastical,  411,  442. 

De  Richbourg,  Rev.  P.,  339. 

Devolution  of  Proprietary  Shares, 
714,  715,  716. 

Deyos,  Richard,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164  n.,  181. 

Dickeson,  plantation  of,  345. 

Dill,  Captain,  of  Barbadian  sloop,  597. 

Dissenters  in  Colleton  County,  329, 
374,  391,  407;  majority  in  colony, 
440;  opposition  to  naturalization 
of  Huguenots,  Ibid. ;  some  leave 
colony,  453. 

Divorce,  none  in  South  Carolina,  11 
and  n. 

D'Harriette,  Huguenot  family  of, 
323  n. 

Dodsworth,  Anthony,  commission  to, 
379. 

Dolmans,  Sir  Francis,  transports 
French  families  to  South  Carolina, 
180. 

Donne,  Robert,  comes  out  as  servant 
to  Stephen  Bull,  121 ;  elected  mem- 
ber of  council,  125;  mentioned  as 
Dun,  136 ;  Captain  Lieutenant,  cash- 
iered, 150;  again  captain,  171. 

Dorchester,  colony  at,  326,  327,  345; 
meeting  house  at,  707 ;  tower  of 
church  standing  at.  Ibid. 

Douglass,  John,  schoolmaster,  510, 511. 

Douxsaint,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Drake,  Jonathan,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 571. 

Drake,  Captain,  commands  company 
during  French  and  Spanish  invasion, 
3i)9. 

Drayton,  John,  author,  24. 

Dra3rton,  Thomas,  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  182,  327  n. 

Drayton,  William  Henry,  mentioned, 
371. 

Dublin,  communication  with,  403. 

Du  Bois,  Treasurer,  sends  rice  to 
Charles  Town,  371 ;  Huguenot  fam- 
ily of,  323  n. 

Du  Bose,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Du  Bourdieu,  Huguenot  family  of, 
323  n. 

Du  Gue,  James,  grant  to,  322  n. 

Duhare,  country  of,  42. 

Dunlop,  Alexander,  mentioned,  215. 


738 


INDEX 


Dunlop,  Eev.  William,  a  deputy,  210 ; 
sent  by  Cardross  to  Grovernor  of 
Charles  Town  for  guns,  214,  215,  216 ; 

,  of  committee  on  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions, 225 ;  mentioned,  334,  335. 

Dunlop,  family  of,  196. 

Du  Pre,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Du  Pont,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Durham,  Bishop  of,  59. 

Durham  County,  Palatine,  59. 

Durham,  David,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 571. 

Dutarque,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Dutch  mentioned,  2,  49,  56;  settlers 
from  New  York,  145;  West  India 
trade  with,  211. 

Duties  upon  negro  slaves  imported, 
383;  on  liquors,  negroes,  etc.,  557, 
584,  585,  626,  627. 

Eagle,  The  Galley,  captured  by  pi- 
rates, 609,  615. 

Eden,  Governor,  of  North  Carolina, 
the  pirate  Bonnet  surrendered  to, 
589,  595. 

Edisto  (Edistoh),  Sandford  enters 
and  explores,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86 ;  men- 
tioned, 91,  92 ;  Maurice  Mathews  in 
Bermudian  sloop  reaches,  127 ;  Pro- 
prietors settle  plantation  upon,  175, 
176;  Indians  cede  lands  upon,  179; 
Morton  and  his  party  settle  on,  198 ; 
Spaniards  land  on,  216;  mentioned, 
230,  236;  Pirate  Yeates  puts  into, 
598. 

Education  schools  set  up  by  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
449;  free  school  erected,  487,  488, 
511,  512,  700,  701. 

Edwards,  Willi  am,  member  of  As- 
sembly, opposed  Church  acts,  409. 

Elections,  first  in  Carolina  held  at 
Port  Royal,  125;  censured  by  Will 
Owen,  126 ;  Sayles's  instructions  as 
to,  133;  Owen  holds  an,  134;  held 
at  Charles  Town,  198;  ordered  to  be 
held  at  Charles  Town  and  London, 
Ibid. ;  voting  by  ballot,  199 ;  con- 
tinued to  be  held  at  Charles  Town, 
200 ;  act  to  regulate,  422, 423 ;  voting 
by  ballot,  423,  428 ;  provisions  in  re- 
gard to,  558,  559 ;  to  be  held  in  each 
parish,  660 ;  by  ballot,  561 ;  church- 


wardens managers  of,  561 ;  quali- 
fications of  voters,  562,  573;  law 
of,  revised,  625;  act  repealed,  628; 
course  of  Proprietors  in  regard  to, 
reviewed,  672. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  charters  of.  See 
Charters. 

Ellicot,  Joseph,  member  of  Assembly, 
239  n. 

Elliot,  William,  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  327  n. ;  gives  lot  for  Baptist 
Church,  698. 

Ely,  John,  commissioned  Receiver 
General,  301;  death  of,  309;  men- 
tioned, 371. 

Emperor,  The  Ship,  captured  by  pi- 
rates, 598. 

Enacting  clause  of  statutes,  form  of, 
265. 

English,  Henroydah,  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238  n. ;  member  of  Com- 
mons, 505  n. 

English  statute,  mention  of,  in  peti- 
tion of  Assembly,  242;  application 
of,  to  colonies  questioned,  244,  517 ; 
act  to  put  in  force  several  of,  519, 
520,  521,  522,  523. 

Erandos,  Emmanuel,  pirate,  575. 

Evans,  Captain  George,  commands 
Granville  Bastion,  398,  400. 

Eve,  Colonel  Jacob,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 505  n.;  plantation  destroyed 
by  Indians,  546. 

Everleigh,  Samuel,  committee  of  cor- 
respondence, 517  ;  commission  to  try 
pirates,  567. 

Exclusion  Bill,  mentioned,  402. 

Experiment,  The  Brigantine,  Allen 
Archer,  commander,  567. 

Exports,  Governor  Johnson's  report 
on,  478. 

Farr,  John,  deputy  of  Proprietors, 
210;  committee  to  consider  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  225. 

Faucheraud,  Huguenot  family  of  ,323  n. 

Faysoux,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Fees  of  oflftcers,  241. 

Fenwicke,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Fenwicke,  Captain,  commands  com- 
pany during  invasion  of  French  and 
Spaniards,  398,  399,  400. 


INDEX 


739 


Fenwicke,  Robert,  arrives  in  Loyal 
Jamaica,  and  gives  security,  261  n. 

Fidling,  Francis,  postmaster,  352. 

Fitzpatrick,  Brian,  a  noted  villain, 
170. 

Flambourg,  The  Man-of-War,  623,663. 

Fleet,  sails  from  the  Downes,  121. 

Flint  River,  Indian  fight  upon,  380. 

Florida,  mentioned,  40,  555,  bound- 
ary of  Carolina,  6i,  683;  claimed 
part  of  Carolina,  130,  248. 

Foison,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Foreign  Attachment  Act,  515. 

Fortune,  The  Frigate,  5()7  n. 

Foster,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Foster,  John,  member  of  Council,  156 ; 
owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164  n. 

Fox,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Fox,  George,  mentioned,  272. 

France,  mentioned,  'Mn,  453, 553,  683. 

Franchomme,  Charles,  grant  to,  323  n. 

Francis  I,  King  of  France,  mentioned, 
43. 

Francis,  The  Ship,  captured  by  pi- 
rates, .^ii6,  604,  617. 

Fraser,  John,  warned  of  Indian  upris- 
ing, 532. 

Freemen  of  colony,  election  by,  103, 
133. 

Free  school,  erected.    See  Education. 

French,  on  the  Mississippi,  3;  danger 
from,  9,  258  ;  mentioned,  38, 452, 486, 
553;  invasion  by,  with  Spaniards, 
394,  395,  396,  397,  398,  399,  400,  401 ; 
renewed  danger  from,  446. 

French  church,  when  built,  335 ;  Isaac 
Mazyck  contributes  to,  697,  698. 

Frenchmen,  English  colonists  object 
to  franchise  of,  238;  dissenters  op- 
pose, 391. 

French  Protestants  (or  Hugfuenots) , 
mentioned,  8,  37 ;  Ribault's  colony 
of,  44,  45,  46,  47,  48 ;  De  Fontenay's 
proposed  colony  of,  49 ;  Petit's  col- 
ony of,  180 ;  grants,  181 ;  mentioned, 
233, 238 ;  Sothell  admits  as  free-born 
,  citizens,    233,   234;    people    Craven 

I  County,  238 ;  members  of  Assembly, 
239;  numbers  of,  304,  319;  settle 
Orange  Quarter,  319;  first  grants 
to,  for  valuable  consideration,  322 ; 


names  of  families,  323  n. ;  numbers 
of,  324  n. ;  church  of,  335 ;  pastors 
of,  336 ;  settlement  on  Cooper  River, 
337 ;  number  of,  'SiS ;  mentioned, 
350 ;  dissenters  object  to  representa- 
tion of,  374,  391 ;  relations  of  church- 
men to,  391, 392 ;  revocation  of  Edict 
of  Nantes  mentioned,  402;  not  dis- 
senters, 404 ;  opposition  of  dissenters 
to,  407, 440 ;  settlement  of,  in  Orange 
Quarter,  made  into  parish  of  St. 
Dennis,  447 ;  three  of  church  com- 
missioners, 448  n. ;  dissenters,  oppo- 
sition to,  465;  Huguenots  in  North 
Carolina,  slaughter  of,  497 ;  piety  of 
Huguenots,  695 ;  ministers  of,  699. 

Froude,  J.,  English  in  West  Indies, 
quoted,  350. 

Fuller,   William,    member   of   Com- 
mons, 505  n. 

Fundamental  Constitutions,  drawn 
by  Locke  and  Shaftesbury,  94 ;  pro- 
visions of,  95,  96,  97,  98,  99,  100,  101, 
102, 103,  104 ;  Locke's  responsibility 
for  church  clause,  105;  other  pro- 
visions examined,  106,  107,  108,  109 ; 
organizations  of  Palatine's  Court 
under,  110 ;  never  received  assent  of 
freemen,  110 ;  marked  effect  of,  111 ; 
Landgraves  appointed  not  in  accord- 
ance with  provisions  of  charter,  111 ; 
Ms.  copy  of,  in  Charleston  Library, 
105;  no  one  allowed  grant  of  land 
until  he  subscribed  Constitutions, 
120;  first  Landgraves  appointed 
under^  not  inhabitants,  141, 142 ;  Yea- 
mans  directed  to  introduce,  161; 
another  set  sent  out,  192,  193 ;  third 
set  sent  out,  207 ;  representative  re- 
fuses to  subscribe,  210;  committee 
of  Assembly  appointed  to  consider, 
225 ;  Proprietors  repudiated  first  set, 
226;  the  people  resist,  227;  Sothell 
claims  government  under,  as  a  Pro- 
prietor, 230,  232;  Proprietors  agree 
to  abandon,  247 ;  disregard  pro- 
visions of,  275;  new  laws  to  be  as 
near  as  possible  to,  278 ;  Proprietors 
devoted  to,  314 ;  provisions  in  regard 
to  religion,  329;  opposition  to,  364;  . 
the  last  of,  37^;  mentioned,  402, 410,  \7' 
423,  433,  523,  672,  683,  685,  686,  691. 


740 


INDEX 


Gaillard,  Joachim,  grant  to,  322  n. 

Gaillard,  Richard,  grant  to,  181. 

Gaillard,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Gale,  Christopher,  sent  from  North 
Carolina  to  apply  for  assistance 
against  Indians,  496,  498. 

Game,  abundance  of,  188. 

Garden,  Alexander,  Dr.,  work  of,  24. 

Gates,  Sir  Thomas,  grant  to,  54. 

Gendron,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Gendron,  John,  member  of  Assembly, 
239;  George  I  mentioned,  38;  pro- 
claimed, 527,  528 ;  mentioned,  651 ; 
Commons  call  upon  Governor  John- 
son to  take  upon  him  government 
in  his  name,  652,  653;  John  Barn- 
well sent  to  England  to  appeal  to, 
656,  665 ;  in  Hanover,  666 ;  agents  of 
new  Government  in  absence  of,  pro- 
cure hearing  before  Regents,  671, 672, 
673 ;  full  legal  title  not  settled  in,  680. 

George  Town,  when  settled,  493  n.,494. 

Georgia,  mentioned,  6,  77,  578. . 

Gibbes,  Benjamin,  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  327  n. 

Gibbes,  Robert,  one  of  the  Goose  Creek 
men,  238;  member  of  Assembly,  239 ; 
comes  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. ;  plan- 
tation of,  345 ;  appointed  Chief  Jus- 
tice, 465;  chosen  Governor  upon 
death  of  Tynte,  489;  contest  over, 
490,  491 ;  declared  guilty  of  bribery, 
492 ;  but  holds  the  office,  address  to 
Assembly,  492,  493;  attention  paid 
to  education  under,  494 ;  mentioned, 
497  ;  receives  memorial  from  North 
Carolina,  and  lays  same  before  As- 
sembly, 498;  mentioned,  689, 690, 692. 

Gibbes,  Dr.  Robert  W.,  mentioned,  27. 

Gibbon,  name  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Gibbon  William,  commissioner  of  free 
school,  488 ;  commissioner  for  build- 
ing St.  Philip's  Church,  495 ;  member 
of  Commons,  505  n. ;  on  committee 
of  correspondence  with  agent  in 
England,  517  ;  member  of  Commons 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571 ;  asks 
compensation  for  furnishing  council 
room,  638. 

Gibson,  Captain  James,  commander 
of  ship,  transports  Scotch  rebels,  196 ; 
ill  treatment  of  them,    197;    com- 


mands the  Rising  Sun,  and  lost  off 
Charles  Town  bar,  310,  311. 

Gibson,  William,  owner  of  vessel, 
196. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  grant  to,  5. 

Gilbertson,  James,  member  of  As- 
sembly, 239. 

Gilchrist,  James,  arrives  in  Loyal 
Jamaica,  and  gives  security,  261. 

Giles,  Thomas,  accompanies  Sandford, 
82,  83. 

Gilman,  of  Lord  Cardross's  company, 
195. 

Girard  Peter,  security  for  Daniel 
Horry,  261 ;  furnishes  Randolph 
table  of  French  Protestants,  324, 325. 

Giradeau,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Glen  Governor,  mentioned,  35. 

Godfrey,  Colonel  John,  comes  from 
Barbadoes,  143;  appointed  to  view 
Wando  River,  146;  commissioned 
captain,  147 ;  an  old  colonist,  154 ; 
member  of  Council,  156;  a  deputy, 
161 ;  appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel, 
170,  171 ;  advances  agaifist  Span- 
iards, 171 ;  member  of  Council,  197, 
210 ;  threatened  by  Proprietors,  219 ; 
mentioned  among  those  from  Bar- 
badoes, 327  n. ;  plantation  of,  345. 

Godin,  Benjamin,  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238  n. ;  member  of  Com- 
mons, 505  n. 

Godolphin,  Lord,  mentioned,  389. 

Golden  Islands,  of  Azilia,  577. 

,Goose  Creek,  church  upon,  416;  In- 
dians attack  inhabitants,  536. 

Goose  Creek  Men,  Governor  Ludwell 
warned  to  beware,  237 ;  assessment 
list  of,  238  n. ;  Ludwell  again 
warned  to  avoid,  265  ;  some  of  them 
Barbadians,  327 ;  mentioned,  689. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  grant  to,  56 ; 
appointed  Attorney  General,  but  did 
not  accept,  259. 

Gospel,  Society  for  Propagation  of, 
organized,  338;  its  influence  in  this 
colony,  339;  its  missionaries  and 
schools,  339,  340;  libraries  estab- 
lished by,  354 ;  Rev.  Samuel  Thomas 
sent  out  by,  411 ;  objects  to  Church 
acts,  439, 445 ;  mentioned,  453 ;  urges 
want  of  bishops,  470;    free  school 


INDEX 


741 


assisted   by,  49i ;    South    Carolina  I 
its  first  field,  699,  700.  | 

Gourdine,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Gourges,  Chevalier  de,  avenges  mas- 
sacre of  Menendez,  48. 

Governors,  usually  made  Landgraves, 
111 ;  Proprietors  seek  to  have  made 
Vice  Admirals,  but  Royal  Govern- 
ment refuses,  296;  required  to  give 
security,  297  ;  list  of.  Appendix,  719,  : 
720.  I 

Graeme,  Chief  Justice,  mentioned,  36.  j 

Grand  Council,  composition  of,  under  \ 
Fundamental     Constitutions,     100;  j 
powers   of,    100,   101 ;    under  Tem-  I 
porary  Laws,   140,   141 ;    power   to  ; 
make  peace  or  war,  178 ;  to  meet  at 
Oyster  Point,  182;  allowed  to  pro- 
pose to  Parliament  matter  for  con- 
sideration, 192 ;  Elizabeth  Lining  set 
at  liberty  by,  197;   Lord  Cardross 
claims   coordinate    authority  with, 
214;  all  powers  of,  for  time  vested 
in  Governor  Morton,  217 ;  Governor 
Colleton  refuses  to  allow  delegates 
of  people  to  act  upon  any  measure 
until  passed  on  by,  227  ;  issues  order 
for  better  observance  of  Lord's  day, 
263 ;  Woodward  convicted  of  misde- 
meanor by,  .'^46,  347. 

Grandy,  The  River,  mentioned,  82. 

Grange,  Hugh,  commissioner  of  free 
schools,  488. 

Granville,  Lord  John,  succeeds  his 
father  as  Palatine,  387 ;  mentioned, 
391 ;  under  his  direction  attempt 
made  to  exclude  dissenters  from 
Government,  394,  405 ;  Mr.  Boone 
appears  before,  and  is  rebuffed,  428, 
429;  mentioned,  438,  681,711;  death 
of,  465. 

Gray,  Thomas,  overseer  to  Sir  John 
Yeamans,  comes  from  Barbadoes, 
143;  mentioned,  145;  becomes  Cai> 
tain,  appointed  to  view  Wando 
River,  146,  147 ;  sued  before  Grand 
Council,  149;  sues  Sir  John  Yea- 
mans,  150;  an  old  colonist,  154; 
member  of  Council,  1.56 ;  a  Deputy, 
161 ;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town,  1<>4; 
appointed  Major  and  advances  to 
meet  Spaniards,  171 ;  charges  against, 


173;  mentioned  as  coming  from 
Barbadoes,  327  n.;  plantation  of, 
345. 

Green,  Plantation  of,  345. 

Greene,  General  Nathanael,  men- 
tioned, 24. 

Greg.  Percy,  author,  quoted,  13, 

Gregg,  Rev.  Alexander,  author,  29. 

Grimball,  Paul,  a  deputy,  210 ;  house 
sacked  by  Spaniards,  216;  on  com- 
mittee to  consider  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions, 225;  disqualified  from 
holding  office,  231 ;  one  of  Arch- 
dale's  Council,  280;  plantation  of, 
345. 

Grinard,  Jacob,  with  Rene'  Petit,  brings 
out  colony  of  Huguenots,  180;  men- 
tioned, 402. 

Gualdape  or  Duharhe,  country  of,  42. 

Guerard,  Jacob,  invents  Pendulum 
engine  for  husking  rice,  349. 

Guerard,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  7i. 

Guerin,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Guttery,  Gilbert,  appointed  Health 
Officer,  513. 

Guy,  Rev.  William,  sent  out  as  school- 
master, 495;  escapes  Indian  mas- 
sacre, 5.34 ;  mentioned,  702. 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  Assembly  passes, 
247 ;  Proprietors  disallow  as  in 
force  without  action  of  Assembly, 
247,  248;  question  as  to,  248,  249; 
passage  of,  in  connection  with  pirates, 
252,  253,  255;  approved  by  Pro- 
prietors, 517. 

Hall,  Arthur,  member  of  Commons, 
505  ti. ;  signs  address  to  the  King, 
571  )i. 

Hall,  Captain  Fayrer,  Governor  John- 
son selects,  for  expedition  against 
pirates,  607;  takes  part  in  battle 
with,  613. 

Hall,  Gyles,  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town.  >/ 
1(>4  ;  comes  from  Barbadoes,  327  ??. 

Halsted,  Captain,  of  the  Blessing,  his 
instructions,  139, 140, 142, 155  ;  writes 
to  Shaftesbury,  162;  writes  to  Pro- 
prietors charges  against  Yeamans 
and  Gray,  173;  mentioned,  180,  182. 

Hamilton,  mentioned,  214. 

Hamilton,  family  of  Lord  Cardross's 
colony,  196. 


742 


INDEX 


Harcourt,  Sir  Simon,  opinion  of,  upon 
Church  acts,  436,  440,  441. 

Hardinge,  Viscount,  claims  share  of 
Sir  William  Berkeley  as  heir  of,  270. 

Hardy,  Lieutenant  Samuel,  accom- 
panies Sandford,  82. 

Hare,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Harford,  Captain,  in  Barnwell's  expe- 
dition against  Indians,  499. 

Harris,  John,  petitions  Sothell  to  as- 
sume government,  230,  231 ;  charges 
against,  236. 

Harris,  Bichard,  member  of  Com- 
mons, signs  address  to  the  King, 
571. 

Harry  Haven,  river  named  by  Sand- 
ford,  82. 

Hart,  Charles,  member  of  Council, 
assistant  judge  in  trial  of  pirates, 
567,  568,  .575,  643,  648. 

Hart,  Hugh,  member  of  Commons, 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571. 

Hasell,  Rev.  Thomas,  Missionary  So. 
Prop.  Gospel,  439. 

Hastings,  Captain,  in  Barnwell's  ex- 
pedition against  Indians,  499. 

Havana,  Carolina  open  to  invasion 
of,  394;  invasion  concerted  at,  396; 
Governor  of,  warns  against  pirates, 
574;  expedition  against  Carolina 
sails  from,  663. 

Haweth,  William,  member  of  Arch- 
dale's  Council,  280. 

Hawks,  Francis,  LL.D.,  quoted,  128, 
273,  500,  501,  502. 

Hayden,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Hayti  or  Hispaniola,  mentioned,  40, 
41,  42. 

Heath,  Sir  Robert,  Charter  of,  49,  54, 
58,  59,  60,  61,  67,  70,  76,  95. 

Hearne,  Captain  John,  commands 
company  during  French  and  Spanish 
invasion,  398 ;  murdered  by  Indians, 
536. 

Hedges,  Sir  Charles,  Judge  of  High 
Court  of  Admiralty,  England,  ap- 
points admiralty  officers,  297;  Secre- 
tary of  State,  436. 

Henry  VIII,  mentioned,  40;  Statute 
of,  in  regard  to  piracy,  253,  605,  610, 
611. 


Henry,  The  Sloop,  Flagship  of  Rhett's 
fleet  against  pirates,  597,  599. 

Hepworth,  Thomas,  prosecutes  pi-  , 
rates,  611. 

Herriot,  David,  captured  by  Bonnet, 
594;  turns  pirate,  595;  is  captured 
and  agrees  to  give  evidence,  604; 
escapes  with  Bonnet,  608,  609;  is 
discovered  and  killed,  612. 

Hewatt,  Rev.  Alexander,  author,  his  ji 
work,  16;  quoted,  232,  239,  251,  252,  1; 
253,  259,  260,  262,  312,  315,  318,  348,  I 
460.  I 

Hides,  exports  of,  350. 

Higginton,  Mr.,  on  committee  to  su- 
pervise Fundamental  Constitutions,     ' 
375. 

High  Steward,  office  of,  under  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  99,  141 ;  Sir 
Peter  Colleton  appointed,  110. 

Hildsley,  Captain,  of  the  man-of-war 
Phwnix,  623,  663. 

Hill,  Charles,  member  of  Commons, 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571;  on 
commission  to  try  pirates,  575. 

Hilton's  Expedition  of  Discovery,  71, 
72;  his  map  mentioned,  85;  men- 
tioned, 86,  248. 

Hilton's  Head,  87. 

Hiwassee,  Indians  followed  as  far  as, 
346. 

Hobcaw,  mentioned,  400. 

Hogs,  great  abundance  of,  351. 

Holmes,  Francis,  sent  to  New  Eng- 
land to  purchase  arms,  544. 

Holmes,  Sir  Robert,  sent  with  fleet 
to  suppress  pirates,  256,  257,  258, 260. 

Holt,  Chief  Justice,  declares  slaves 
merchandise,  4il. 

Horry,  Daniel,  arrives  in  the  Loyal 
Jamaica  and  gives  security,  261. 

Horry,  Peter,  mentioned,  22. 

Horry,  the  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Horses,  Colonists  begin  to  breed,  188. 

Horsey,  Samuel,  Proprietors  appoint 
Governor  and  offer  to  make  Land- 
grave, 677 ;  trustee  to  receive  sur- 
render to  the  Crown,  679. 

Howard,  Captain  Thomas,  com- 
mander of  his  Majesty's  ship, 
Shoram,  assistant  judge  to  try 
pirates,  567 ;  mentioned,  574. 


INDEX 


743 


Howe,  Rev.  George,  D.D.,  author,  30; 
quoted,  19G. 

Howes,  Job,  one  of  committee  to  con- 
sider Fundamental  Constitutions, 
293;  again,  376;  Speaker  of  Com- 
mons which  passes  Church  Act,  406 ; 
mentioned,  453. 

Huger,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Hughes,  Henry,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134;  decreed  to  pay  Robert 
Donne  for  labor,  149;  chosen  to  rep- 
resent people,  156;  lands  laid  out 
for,  taken  for  new  town,  162,  163; 
owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164. 

Hughson,  C.  S.,  author,  33;  quoted, 
257,  586,  601,  (i08. 

Hume  of  Polwart,  one  of  Lord  Car- 
dross's  company,  195. 

Humphrey,  Kev.  Dr.  D.,  Secretary  of 
So.  Pro.  Gospel,  quoted,  333  n. 

Hurt,  Thomas,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  1()4  n. 

Hyde,  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
commotions  between  Governor  Pol- 
lock and  himself,  497,  498;  con- 
duct in  regard  to  Barnwell,  500, 501. 

Hyme,  Edward,  appointed  naval  offi- 
cer, 465. 

Hyrne,  Captain  Edward,  one  of  the 
Goose  Creek  men,  238  n, 

Ibitachtka,  Cacique  of,  mentioned, 
393. 

Immigration  to  South  Carolina, 
sources  of,  191. 

Imports,  Governor  Johnson's  Report, 
478,  479. 

Indemnity,  Act  of,  Assembly  request 
of  Ludwell,  239;  unable  to  grant, 
240;  petition  for,  243;  general  par- 
don, but  Moore  and  Daniel  excluded 
from,  246. 

Independent  or  Congregational 
Church,  3:^. 

Independents.  See  Congregationalists. 

Indians,  flee  at  approach  of  Ribault, 
44;  timidity  overcome,  assist  the 
French,  45,  46;  claims  of  Europeans 
'^  by  treaty  with,  51 ;  intercourse  with 
Spaniards,  80;  Sandford  welcomed 
by,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86,  87 ;  Woodward 
left  with,  91 ;  provisions  of  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  in  regard  to, 


106;  Sayle's  colony  gladly  received 
by,  129;  but  colonists  watchful  of, 
129;  Indians  begin  to  be  trouble- 
some, 146 ;  war  declared  against  cer- 
tain tribes  and  expedition  against, 
147 ;  assist  in  recovering  fugitive 
servants,  170;  Yeamans  and  Gray 
charged  with  complicity  in  death  of 
an,  173;  lands  purchased  from,  178, 
179 ;  the  use  of  corn  by,  187 ;  of  oil 
by,  189 ;  Proprietors  grant  privilege 
of  making  capture  of,  189 ;  instruc- 
tions as  to,  201;  warnings  that 
Spaniards  were  instigating,  214; 
join  Spaniards  in  destruction  of 
Cardross's  colony,  216;  Archdale's 
treatment  of,  285;  captured  in 
Moore's  expedition  against  Span- 
iards, 393,  394 ;  Governor  Johnson's 
Report  as  to  numbers  of,  480,  481 ; 
Tuscarora  Indians  in  North  Carolina 
rise,  expedition  against,  496, 497, 498, 
499,  500,  501,  502,  503;  Yamassee  In- 
dians rise,  war  against,  532, 533, 534, 
535,  536,  537,  545,  546 ;  Yamassees 
driven  from  these  lands,  547. 

Indian  Trade,  Proprietors  place  re- 
straints upon,  177 ;  certain  of  them 
enter  into  the.  Ibid. ;  carried  (500 
miles  into  the  country,  302 ;  first  for- 
tunes in  Carolina  made,  345,  346 ;  in 
Archdale's  time  near  1000  miles  from 
Charles  Town,  347;  Indian  traders, 
453;  regulations  not  properly  en- 
forced, 531 ;  act  to  regulate,  558 ;  re- 
pealed, 629. 

Indigo,  tried  with  success,  187 ;  manu- 
factured, .553. 

Industry,  The  Ship,  543. 

Ingram,  Thomas,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Ireland,  emigrants  from,  114,  629. 

Iroquois,  Five  Nations  of,  526. 

Izard,  Balph,  joins  in  petition  to 
Sothell  to  assume  government  as  a 
Proprietor,  230;  charges  made  by, 
236;  member  of  Assembly,  239  n.\ 
on  committee  to  look  into  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  293;  conveys 
lot  to  French  church,  335:  planta- 
tion of,  345 ;  introduces  Church  Act, 
416;  commissioner  of    free   school, 


744 


INDEX 


488;  on  commission  to  try  pirates, 
567  n. ;  member  of  Commons,  signs 
address  to  the  King,  571 ;  again  on 
commission  to  try  pirates,  575 ;  com- 
missioner of  Indian  trade,  626 ;  mem- 
ber of  Council,  642;  qualified,  643, 
648. 

Izard,  Walter,  member  of  Commons, 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571. 

Jackson,  Originall,  suit  of,  against 
Maurice  Mathews,  149;  gives  land 
for  a  church,  331;  mentioned,  696, 
697. 

Jackson,  Meliscent,  wife  of  above. 
Ibid. 

Jamaica,  establishment  of  Royal  Gov- 
ernment in,  57 ;  tar  exported  to,  187 ; 
skins,  furs,  etc.,  exported  to,  189; 
complaints  of  Governor  of,  204; 
Henry  Morgan,  Deputy  Governor  of, 
205,  256;  case  from  involving  appli- 
cability of  English  statutes  to  colo- 
nies, 249;  story  of  pirates  running 
away  with  vessel  from,  262;  Moore 
sends  sloop  to,  381 ;  Daniel  goes  to, 
382;  Ash  threatened  to  be  sent  to, 
386;  jurisdiction  of  Bishop  of  J^on- 
don  varied  in,  418,  419,  442,  443;  ex- 
ports to,  478,  479. 

James  Island,  passengers  of  the  Ris- 
ing Sun  washed  ashore  on,  311; 
operations  upon  during  invasion  of 
French,  397,  399. 

James  Town,  Santee,  French  settle- 
ment of,  324,  and  note. 

James  Town,  Va.,  mentioned,  1, 5, 688. 

Jeannerette,  Huguenot  family  of, 
.323  n. 

Jehosse  Island,  mentioned,  85. 

Jews,  mentioned,  391,  462. 

Johnson,  Fort,  mentioned,  395,  506, 
.579. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Gideon,  commissary  of 
Bishop  of  London,  character  of,  472 ; 
cast  away,  473 ;  arrives  disheart- 
ened, complains  to  Bishop,  473; 
writes  letter  about  people  of  Caro- 
lina, 474,  475;  salary  of,  487;  com- 
missioner of  free  school,  488;  for 
building  churches,  495;  death  of, 
548;  mentioned,  564,  695. 

Johnson,  Sir   Nathaniel,  surety  for 


Thomas  Pinckney,  261 ;  alluded  to 
by  Proprietors,  265 ;  mentioned,  317  ; 
comes  from  Leeward  Islands,  327  n., 
328;  mentioned,  340;  makes  silk, 
350 ;  position  in  province,  368 ;  High 
churchman,  369;  made  Governor, 
377,  378,  388 ;  opposed  to  revolution 
in  England,  389 ;  commission  issued 
to,  389;  instructions,  389,  390 ;  forti- 
fies the  town,  392;  permits  Moore 
to  invade  Apalachian  territory,  392 ; 
prepares  for  French  and  Spanish 
invasion,  394,  395,  396 ;  presence  in- 
spires confidence,  397 ;  conduct  of 
defence,  398,  399,  400;  raises  funds 
for,  401 ;  revival  of  Toryism  en- 
hanced by,  403;  advocates  Church 
Act,  406,  407 ;  assists  in  building 
church,  411 ;  letters  of  Ashe  fall  into 
his  hands,  413 ;  lays  them  before  as- 
sembly, 414;  Proprietors  approve 
conduct  as  to  Church  Act,  429 ;  his 
steps  to  procure  ministers,  438,  439 ; 
dissolves  the  House,  444 ;  message  to 
new  Assembly,  445;  his  loyalty  to 
the  Queen,  452;  his  income  cur- 
tailed, 453;  called  upon  to  remove 
Trott,  457 ;  Archdale  avenges  him- 
self upon,  460,  461;  address  to  As- 
sembly, 465,  466,  467;  Commons 
address  him,  468;  addresses  also 
Proprietors  in  his  defence,  469;  his 
report  on  condition  of  province,  477, 
478,  479,  480,  481;  mentioned,  554, 
684,  689. 
Johnson,  Robert,  mentioned,  33,  35; 
surety  for  his  father  as  Governor, 
390 ;  appears  before  Board  of  Trade, 
540 ;  to  be  appointed  Governor,  547 ; 
his  instructions,  569;  arrives  and 
assumes  government,  578 ;  addresses 
Commons,  578,  579,  580;  Commons 
reply  to,  581;  controversy  about 
powder  received,  582,  583;  pirates 
demand  his  attention,  585 ;  addresses 
Commons  in  regard  to,  586,  587; 
writes  to  Proprietors  on  the  subject 
of,  589;  pirates'  demand  upon,  for 
medicines,  590;  summons  Council, 
who  comply  with  demand,  591;  or- 
ganize expedition  against,  596,  597 ; 
writes  to  Proprietors   on   subject. 


INDEX 


745 


606 ;  adopts  measures  to  clear  coast 
of,  606;  takes  command  of  fleet  in 
person,  607,  608,  609 ;  offers  reward 
for  recapture  of  Bonnet,  609;  pro- 
ceeds against  pirates,  612;  battle 
with,  613 ;  defeats  and  captures,  614, 
615;  maintains  fleet,  616;  Bonnet's 
appeal  to,  619 ;  fixes  day  for  execu- 
tion of  pirates  convicted,  620 ;  writes 
to  Proprietors  appealing  for  assist- 
ance, 622,  623;  cordial  relations  be- 
tween Governor  and  Assembly,  624 ; 
approves  acts  in  regard  to  rents 
due  Proprietors,  625;  represents  to 
Proprietors  Commons'  grievances 
against  Rhett,  631 ;  dissolves  the 
Assembly  upon  order  of  Proprietors, 
632 ;  sends  Mr.  Yonge  to  England  to 
represent  conduct  of  Council,  633; 
Proprietors  reply,  640, 641 ;  calls  new 
Assembly,  645 ;  consults  Council  and 
newly  elected  members  of  Commons 
on  threat  of  invasion  by  Spaniards, 
645 ;  proposes  subscription  of  private 
means,  members  of  Commons  refuse, 
646;  summons  field  ofiicers  of  militia 
for  review,  646 ;  receives  letter  from 
committee  of  people  calling  on  him 
to  hold  for  King,  647,  648;  comes 
from  plantation  and  summons  Coun- 
cil, 648;  part  of  whom  only  attend, 
649 ;  Mr.  Middleton,  on  part  of  Com- 
mons, addresses  him,  649,  650;  re- 
plies, 651,  652,653;  dissolves  Assem- 
bly, 653 ;  has  conference  with  Colonel 
Parris,  654;  finds  militia  drawn  up 
contrary  to  his  orders,  654,  655; 
orders  them  to  disperse,  militia  re- 
fuses, 655 ;  recognizes  government 
overthrown,  658 ;  writes  to  Proprie- 
tors, 658,  ()59 ;  refuses  to  pay  tax  of 
new  Government,  660;  appeals  to 
Assembly,  661;  mentioned,  684, 
689. 

Johnson,  Captain,  commands  company 
(luring  French  invasion,  398.     . 

Jones,  Cadwallader,  Governor  Ba- 
hama Islands,  mentioned,  368. 

Jones,  John,  member  of  Parliament, 
134. 

Jones,  Kev.  Morgan,  letter  of,  con- 
sidered. 330. 


Jones,  Thomas,  opposes  Church  Act, 
409. 

Jordan  Kiver,  mentioned,  41,  86,  87. 

Jours,  Jacque  or  James,  owner  of  lot 
in  Old  Town,  164,  181, 

Jury  Law,  act  providing,  249,  250. 

Kennis,  William,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134 ;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town, 
164. 

Kettleby,  Abel,  mentioned,  111;  pur- 
chases 5000  acres,  485 ;  made  agent 
and  Landgrave,  516;  appears  before 
Board  of  Trade,  540, 542 ;  mentioned, 
544,  5()9. 

Kiawha  Eiver,  mentioned,  77,  86,  90, 
91,  125,  12(;,  129,  131,  136,  162. 

Kidd,  Captain,  mentioned,  262,  263, 
595. 

Kimberley,  Thomas,  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, 677. 

Eimloch,  James,  member  of  Council, 
5(i9;  left  out,  640. 

Kingsland,  Major,  mentioned,  143. 

Kinsale,  Ireland.  115, 122. 

King  William,  The  Ship,  of  Governor 
Johnson's  fleet  against  pirates,  607, 
613. 

King,  Captain,  of  The  Neptune,  598. 

Eussoes,  Indians,  146, 147. 

Kyrle,  Sir  Bichard,  appointed  Gov- 
ernor, 201 :  comes  out  and  dies,  202; 
mentioned,  232,  275. 

Labat,  P6re,  quoted,  356. 

Ladson,  John,  comes  from  Barbadoes, 
182 ;  member  of  Assembly,  239. 

Ladson,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Laine,  Anthony,  grant  to,  180. 

Lake,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Lamboll,  Thomas,  account  of  contro- 
versy between  Gebbes  and  Brough- 
ton  from  his  Ms.,  491. 

Landgraves,  mentioned,  9 ;  provisions 
of  Fundamental  Constitutions  re- 
garding, 96,  97,  98, 102 ;  provision  of 
charter  in  regard  to  appointment  of, 
disregarded,  111,  112;  to  be  of  the 
Council,  141 ;  Yeamans  claims  the 
government  by  virtue  of  his  being 
Landgrave,  mentioned,  155;  little 
material  for,  among  early  settlers, 
173;  mentioned,  176;  title  of,  sought, 


746 


INDEX 


197,  198;  mentioned,  208,  224,  232, 
258,  266,  278,  288,  290 ;  patents  to  be 
purchased,  292 ;  legislative  power  of, 
denied,  293 ;  mentioned,  376, 378, 497, 
539,  686 ;  list  of.  Appendix  IV,  717. 

Landgravine  Colleton,  317  n. 

Lands,  Price  of,  185, 190,  207,  278, 279, 
284,  485,  580,  581,  624. 

Lansac,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

La  Boche,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Lawson,  John,  author,  explorer,  sur- 
veyor of  North  Carolina,  319,  324, 
496,497,701. 

Law  officers.  List  of,  Appendix  VI,  721. 

Lawdoniere,  expedition  of,  45. 

Lawrens,  Huguenot  family  of,  323,  n. 

Lawyers,  provisions  of  Fundamental 
Constitutions  in  regard  to,  101,  102 ; 
O'Sullivan  writes  for  one,  137;  none 
in  colony,  148,  252,  259,  299,  611,617. 

Lay  Commissioners,  act  appointed, 
417-420,  421,  422  ;  Boone  defends, 
433,  434;  considered,  441,  443. 

Leather,  exported  to  England,  350. 

Le  Bas,  member  of  Assembly,  239; 
grant  to,  322  n. 

Lederer,  Expedition  of,  128. 

Lee,  Colonel  Henry,  author,  20,  24. 

Leet-court,  under  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions, 98 ;  Leet-men, /feid. 

Le  Feboure,  Captain,  commander 
French  expedition,  396,  397. 

Le  Grand,  Isaac,  grant  to,  322  n. 

Legare,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Leigh,  Chief  Justice  Peter,  mentioned, 
36. 

Le  Jau,  Bev.  Francis,  mentioned,  439, 
488. 

Le  Jay,  Isaac,  322  n. 

Lemon  Island,  Ribault  erects  stone 
upon,  45. 

Le  Moyne,  James,  grant  to,  322  n. 

Lenud,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Lexington,  Battle  of,  mentioned,  3. 

Libraries,  provincial,  353,  471,  472, 
509;  public,  701. 

Limitation,  Statute  of,  enacted,  515. 

Linche,  Captain,  commands  company 
in  French  invasion,  398. 

Linchley,  Christopher,  arrives  in 
Loyal  Jamaica,  and  gives  security, 
261 ;  deposition  of,  as  to  prize,  262. 


Lining,  Elizabeth,  brought  here  in  cap- 
tivity, and  released  by  Council,  197. 

Living,  Expenses  of,  188 ;  Rev.  Gideon 
Johnson  complains  of,  474. 

Loan,  Captain  Arthur,  of  the  ship 
Mediterranean,  assistant  judge  in 
trial  of  pirates,  607,  610. 

Lochart,  of  Lord  Cardross's  company, 
195. 

Locke,  John,  mentioned,  9, 37 ;  Funda- 
mental Constitutions  drawn  by,  94 ; 
Ms.  copy  supposed  to  be  in  his  hand- 
writing, 105 ;  effect  of,  upon  his  rep- 
utation, 109,  110;  made  Landgrave, 
111,  141 ;  his  interest  in  settlement 
of  colony,  writes  letters  for  Shaftes- 
bury, 157;  his  responsibility  for 
clause  of  Constitutions  in  regard  to 
Church  of  England,  167;  connection 
with  province  ceases,  269;  business 
of  province  attended  to  by  him, 
275;  appointed  Landgrave  for  ser- 
vices in  drawing  Constitutions,  292 ; 
provision  in  Constitutions  in  regard 
to  slavery,  358 ;  mentioned,  523, 685, 
710. 

Locke  Island,  176. 

Logan,  George,  charged  by  Randolph 
with  illegal  seizing  and  condemning 
vessels,  372;  nominated  by  Assem- 
bly as  Receiver,  456,  458;  commis- 
sioner of  free  schools,  488 ;  assistant 
judge  to  try  pirates,  567  n. ;  Speaker, 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571;  on 
commission  to  try  pirates,  575;  com- 
missioner to  regulate  Indian  trade, 
626 ;  letter  to  Governor  Johnson  call- 
ing upon  him  to  hold  for  the  King, 
647. 

London,  Bishop  of,  Governor  and 
Council  write  to,  for  minister  in 
place  of  Mr.  Marshall,  410;  recom- 
mends Mr.  Marston,  412;  question 
as  to  his  jurisdiction,  417,  418,  420; 
Boone  maintains,  432,  433;  So.  for 
Pro.  Gos.,  refers  Church  Act  to,  439; 
jurisdiction  questioned,  442;  office 
of  commissary,  jurisdiction  exer- 
cised by,  471 ;  sends  out  Rev.  Gideon 
Johnson  as,  472;  mentioned,  495. 

London  Company,  charter  of,  m&Or 
tioned,  57. 


INDEX 


747 


London  or  Wilton,  Colleton  County 
election  to  be  held  at,  198. 

Longbois,  Captain,  commands  com- 
pany during  French  invasion,  398. 

Longuemar,  Nicholas,  grant  to,  322  7i. 

Lorcey,  Captain,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 505  n. 

Lord's  Day,  to  be  observed,  133,  513, 
514,  515. 

Lords,  House  of,  rejects  Occasional 
Conformity  Bill,  426 ;  Boone  appeals 
to,  434 ;  their  Lordships  address  the 
Queen,  435;  Queen's  action  thereon, 
436,  437,  438  :  mentioned,  461. 

Loughton,  Edward,  searches  for 
mines,  .'348. 

Louis  XIV,  The  King,  mentioned,  365. 

Lovinge,  Michael,  sawyer,  grantor  of 
lot  on  which  French  afterwards 
built,  335  n. 

Low,  Emmanuel,  a  Quaker,  273. 

Lowndes,  name  of,  from  island  of 
St.  Christopher,  327  n.,  328. 

Lowndes,  Thomas,  purchases  Land- 
graveship,  111 ;  mentioned,  677  ; 
Appendix  IV,  717. 

Loyd,  Mr.,  conduct  during  Revolution, 
655. 

Loyal  Jamaica,  privateer,  arrives, 
259,  260;  passengers  on,  261. 

Ludwell,  Philip,  mentioned,  233,  234; 
sketch  of,  235;  commissioned  as 
Governor  of  Carolina,  236;  his  in- 
structions, 236,  237,  238;  calls  As- 
sembly, 239;  Assembly  address  him, 
239;  his  strange  reply,  240;  denies 
indemnity  sought,  241 ;  Proprietors 
withdraw  power  previously  given 
him,  345 ;  admit  to  him  they  cannot 
enforce  Constitution,  246;  write  to 
him  they  will  rule  by  charter,  247 ; 
pursues  reactionary  course  in  regard 
to  Huguenots,  263 ;  Proprietors  warn 
him  against  Goose  Creek  men,  265  ; 
advises  omission  of  word  "nobility  " 
in  enacting  words  of  statute,  265 ; 
commission  recalled,  26() ;  men- 
tioned, 276,  327,  674,  675. 

Ludwell,  Dame  Frances,  sketch  of, 
235  and  n. ;  as  Lady  Berkeley,  sells 
Sir  William  Berkeley's  share  to 
Archdale,  270;  disregarding  him,  as 


Lady  Ludwell  she  conveys  to  certain 
Proprietors,  Ibid. 

Luke  Island  mentioned  as  boundary 
in  charter,  64. 

Lynch,  Sir  Thomas,  Governor  Ja- 
maica, charges  Carolina  to  favor 
pirates,  204,  20(). 

Lyttleton,  Governor  William  Henry, 
mentioned,  35. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  quoted,  298,  317. 

Macclesfield,  Lord,  decision  in  case  of 
Dan  SOD  v.  Trott,  460,  (575,  676. 

McCrady,  Edward,  quoted,  13,  37, 6W. 

Mclver,  Hon.  Henry,  Commissioner 
of  Public  Records,  32. 

McMaster,  Professor  J.  B.,  quoted, 
12,  3(),  694. 

Machoone,  Robert,  commission,  379. 

Mackay,  Colonel  Alexander,  com- 
mands forces  in  Indian  war,  535, 
536,  544. 

Mackemie,  Rev.  Francis,  Presbyte- 
rian clergyman,  visits  Carolina,  334. 

Macyck,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Madagascar,  mentioned,  263;  rice 
brought  from,  348,  349. 

Mahown,  Dennis,  fugitive  servant, 
150. 

Maine,  province  of,  mentioned,  56, 710. 

Manigault,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Manigault,  Judith,  320. 

Manwaring,  Captain,  of  sloop  For- 
tune, captured  by  pirates,  596. 

Marion,  Francis,  mentioned,  21,  22. 

Marion,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Marlborough,  Earl  of,  claim  of,  to 
Barbadoes,  54,  70. 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  mentioned, 
405,  426,  430,  452. 

Marschall,  James,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Marsden,  Rev.  Richard,  rector  to  St. 
Philip's  Church,  420,  473,  476,  495. 

Marshall,  Ralph,  servant  to  Captain 
O'Sullivan,  121 ;  chosen  Representa- 
tive of  people,  125,  156;  member  of 
Grand  Council,  161 ;  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164  n. ;  joins  in  applica- 
tion for  a  clergyman,  318 ;  member 
of  Royal  African  Company,  357. 

Marshall,  Rev.  Samuel,  sent  out  and 
made  Registrar  of  colony,  301 ;  miu- 


748 


INDEX 


ister  of  St.  Philip's,  and  death  of, 
309 ;  his  character,  332 ;  mentioned, 
333,  410,  411,  418. 

Marston,  Kev.  Edward,  involved  in 
controversy  of  Church  Act,  408 ;  put 
in  charge  of  St.  Philip's  Church, 
411 ;  his  character,  412 ;  meddles 
with  political  matters,  413 ;  preaches 
against  Commons,  and  is  summoned 
to  bar  of,  414 ;  deprived  of  salary, 
refuses  to  hear  censure,  415;  men- 
tioned, 417,  419,  420,  422,  430,  439, 
440,  445,  475,  476,  495;  importunes 
Commons  for  reinstatement,  454, 455. 

Martell,  James,  grant  to,  322  n. 

Martial  law  declared  by  Colleton, 
228 ;  Commons  petition  against,  242 ; 
Governor  Craven  declares,  535 ;  al- 
lowed by  Assembly,  537. 

Martyr,  Peter,  historian,  quoted,  42. 

Mary,  Queen,  229. 

Maryland  mentioned,  2,  5,  56,  57,  293, 
294,  418.  419,  577,  710. 

Massachusetts,  7,  73,  293. 

Masters,  Captain  John,  of  the  ship 
Henry,  expedition  against  pirates, 
607,  613. 

Mathews,  Edward,  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164. 

Mathews,  Maurice,  account  of  voyage 
from  Bermuda,  126 ;  m.ember  of  Par- 
liament, 134;  appointed  to  view 
Ward's  River,  146 ;  mentioned,  149 ; 
Representative,  156;  member  of 
Grand  Council,  161 ;  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164;  appointed  captain, 
171 ;  mentioned,  188 ;  appointed  to 
take  possession  of  lands  sold  by  In- 
dians, 195 ;  member  of  Council,  197. 

Maule,  Eev.  Robert,  commissioner 
free  school,  511. 

Maverick,  John  (or  Manwick),  owner 
of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164  ;  comes  from 
Barbadoes,  327  n. 

May,  The  River,  44-48. 

Maybank,  David,  searches  for  mines, 
348. 

Mazyck,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Mazyck,    Isaac,    surety    for    Daniel  ; 
Horry,  261  n. ;  mentioned,  697,  698.  j 

Mediterranean,  The  Ship,  (K)7,  612,  I 
613.  I 


Medlicot  arrives  in  the  Loyal  Jamaica, 
and  gives  security,  261,  262. 

Meeting  Street,  Charleston,  men- 
tioned, 163. 

Melendez  massacres  French  garri- 
son, 48. 

Merchants  of  London,  mentioned, 
542,  551. 

Meriwether,  Colyer,  author,  men- 
tioned, 36. 

Michau,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Michel,  Lewis,  grant  to,  in  North  Caro- 
lina, 496. 

Middleton,  Arthur,  member  of  Coun- 
cil, 197;  comes  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. ;   mentioned,  689. 

Middleton,  Arthur,  the  younger, 
mentioned,  35;  commissioner  of 
free  school,  488 ;  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence, 517;  sent  to  Virginia 
for  assistance,  544,  545,  549 ;  on  com- 
mission to  try  pirates,  567;  presi- 
dent of  Convention,  649. 

Middleton,  Edward,  comes  from  Bar- 
badoes, 327  n. 

Military  organization,  9,  10. 

Militia,  Governor  Johnson's  report 
of,  478. 

Miller,  Charles,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Mills,  statistics,  125. 

Minerva,  The  Ship,  plundered  and 
burnt  by  pirates,  616. 

Mines,  Moore  makes  search  for,  347 ; 
Proprietors  send  out  Cutler  to  search 
for,  348. 

Mississippi,  mentioned,  3,  77,  258, 
553,  ()83. 

Mitchell,  Colonel,  of  North  Carolina, 
commands  in  war  with  Indians,  501. 

Mobile,  mentioned,  538,  543,  553,  683. 

Modiford,  Colonel,  of  Barbadoes,  pro- 
poses to  come  to  Carolina,  71 ;  but 
is  diverted,  72. 

Money,  purchasing  power,  114,  483, 
624,  625. 

Montserrat,  mentioned,  478. 

Montague,  Lord  Charles  Greville, 
mentioned,  .T),  36. 

Montgomerie,  the  family  of,  19(),  214. 

Montgomery,  Sir  Robert,  proposed 
colony  of  Azilia,  575,  576,  578,  580. 


INDEX 


749 


Moody,  The  Pirate,  mentioned,  606, 

609,  616. 

Moore,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Amy,  460,  674. 

Moore,  James,  member  of  Council, 
197;  one  of  the  Goose  Creek  men, 
238  n. ;  member  of  Assembly,  239; 
excluded  from  pardon,  246;  men- 
tioned by  Proprietors  as  head  of 
faction,  265 ;  his  opposition,  267 ; 
member  of  Council,  280 ;  plantation 
of,  3i5;  adventurer  and  Indian 
trader,  347 ;  searcher  for  gold,  348 ; 
supposed  to  be  son  of  Roger  Moore 
of  Ireland,  367 ;  chosen  by  Council, 
Governor,  373,  374;  prorogues  As- 
sembly, 375;  his  expedition  against 
St.  Augustine,  378,  379, 380,  381,  382, 
383,  384,  385,  386;  made  Attorney 
General,  391 ;  commands  expedition 
against  Apalachian  Indians,  392, 
393,  394 ;  signs  Church  Act  as  mem- 
ber of  Council,  406;  death  of,  452; 
mentioned,  479,  684,  689. 

Moore,  James,  son  of  above,  com- 
mands second  expedition  sent  to 
North  Carolina,  525,  526 ;  appointed 

,  Lieutenant  General,  544;  chosen 
Governor  by  Convention,  654 ;  men- 
tioned, 661,  662,  684,  689. 

Moore,  Maurice,  son  of  first  above, 
commands  volunteers  from  North 
Carolina,  544;  pursues  Indians 
into  western  North  Carolina,  547; 
thanked  by  Assembly,  554;  men- 
tioned, 684. 

Moore,  Soger,  son  of  first  above, 
member  of  Commons,  signs  address 
to  the  King,  571  n. 

Moore,  Fort,  mentioned,  546,  555,  703. 

Moores,  The,  from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Moran,  Michael,  servant,  set  free  for 
idleness,  elected  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Morgan,  John,  member  of  Commons, 
505  11. 

Morgan,  Sir  Henry,  knighted  and 
made  Deputy  Governor  of  Jamaica, 
205,  256;  mentioned,  258,  592. 

Morritt,  Rev.  Thomas,  master  of  free 
school,  702. 

Morton,  Joseph,  comes  out  with  colony 


of  dissenters,  194  and  n. ;  made 
Landgrave  and  Governor,  Ibid. ;  his 
administration  short,  197,  198,199; 
dissolves  Parliament,  200 ;  removed, 
201 ;  mentioned,  207 ;  chosen  Gover- 
nor by  Council  and  commissioned  by 
Proprietors,  210;  a  Deputy  also, 
Ibid. ;  controversy  with  Lord  Car- 
dross,  214,  215 ;  warned  by  Cardross 
of  Spanish  invasion,  216;  his  house 
sacked.  Ibid. ;  summons  Parliament, 
217;  all  powers  of  Grand  Council 
vested  in  him,  217 ;  superseded  by 
Colleton,  218;  mentioned,  219,  223; 
224, 232, 275 ;  authorized  with  Daniel 
to  sell  Landgraveships,  2i)2;  ap- 
pointed Judge  of  Admiralty,  297; 
charged  with  corruption  by  Ran- 
dolph, 304;  Proprietors  disapprove 
his  acceptance  of  ofl&ce  under  the 
King,  305;  mentioned,  345,  372; 
upon  death  of  Blake,  though  a  Land- 
grave, set  aside  for  Moore,  373;  not 
a  favorite  with  Proprietors,  374; 
mentioned,  391,  402,  403;  denied 
leave  to  enter  protest  against  Church 
acts,  409;  mentioned,  440;  com- 
missioner of  free  school,  488 ;  men- 
tioned, 497,  689,  696. 

Morton,  Joseph,  Jr.,  a  Deputy,  210. 

Moseley,  Edward,  leader  of  faction 
in  North  Carolina,  497;  intimacy 
with  Barnwell,  502,  503. 

Moseley,  Edward,  paid  for  cataloguing 
books  in  library,  701. 

Motte,  John  Abraham,  commissioner 
of  free  school,  488 ;  his  death,  511. 

Mottes.     See  Mottes  from  Antigua. 

Moultrie,  General  William,  author,  19. 

Mouzon,  Huguenot,  family  of,  323  n. 

Mulberry  Castle,  description  of,  706. 

Muschamp,  Captain  Creorge,  Collector 
of  King's  Revenue,  arrives,  211 ;  at- 
tempt to  enforce  Navigation  Act, 
213 ;  seizes  vessel  for  violating,  222, 
223;  calls  upon  Sothell  to  assume 
government  as  a  Proprietor,  230; 
appointed  by  Sothell  a  Deputy,  231 ; 
mentioned,  236. 

Nahucke,  Indian  Fort,  North  Caro- 
lina, 525. 

Naime,  Captain  Thomas,  member  of 


750 


INDEX 


Commons,  505 ;  sent  to  inquire  cause 
of  Indian  discontent,  533;  is  mur- 
dered by  them,  534. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  mentioned,  319,  336, 
402. 

Naval  officer,  Nicholas  Trott  ap- 
pointed, 298. 

Navigation  Act,  account  of,  70 ;  officer 
sent  to  enforce,  210,  211 ;  resented  by 
Barbadians,  212, 213 ;  Kandolph  com- 
plains of  violation  of,  293 ;  schemes 
to  enforce,  294 ;  reenactmeut  of,  294, 
295;  Board  of  Trade  press  enforce- 
ment of,  294,  295;  and  rice  among 
enumerated  articles,  516^687. 

Negro  slavery,  institution  of,  9 ;  pro- 
vision of  Fundamental  Constitutions 
in  regard  to,  106,  107 ;  Yeamans 
brings  first  negro  slaves  to  Carolina, 
151  ;  slaves  brought  from  West 
Indies,  190;  Barbadian  Slave  Code 
adopted,  234-  Barbadians  bring  their 
slaves,  327 ;  Barbadian  social  order, 
based  on  institution,  brought  here, 
357,  358,  359,  360,  361,  362,  363;  duty 
imposed  upon  importation  of  slaves, 
383 ;  Chief  Justice  Holt  declares  ne- 
gro slaves  merchandise  under  Nav- 
igation acts,  441;  numbers,  478; 
imported  from  Barbadoes  and  Ja- 
maica, 479 ;  duty  on,  557  ;  institution 
of,  mentioned,  683, 686,  687 ;  table  of 
importation  of  negro  slaves.  Appen- 
dix VI,  721. 

Neptune,  The  Ship,  captured  by  pi- 
rates, 597,  598. 

Neufville,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Neuse  River,  mentioned,  525,  549. 

Neve,  Captain  John,  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238. 

Nevis,  mentioned,  122,  478. 

Newberne,  N.  C,  mentioned,  499. 

New  England,  mentioned,  4,  6,  7,  214, 
229,  287,  294,  537. 

New  England  Co.,  mentioned,  73,  74. 

New  Hampshire,  mentioned,  294. 

New  Jersey,  mentioned,  56,  229,  293, 
709,  710,  711. 

New  Mexico,  mentioned,  77. 

New  Netherlands,  mentioned,  49,  212. 

New  Providence,  mentioned,  588, 
589. 


New  York,  mentioned,  2,  3,  5,  8,  56, 
180,  229,  293,  479,  541. 

New  York  Revenge,  The  Ship,  the 
ship  named  Eagle  changed  by  pi- 
rates to,  615. 

Nicholas  James,  alias  Petibois,  grant 
to,  322  n. 

Nicholson,  Sir  Francis,  mentioned,  35, 
354,  471,  539,  541;  made  Provisional 
Governor,  673. 

Nobility,  Provincial,  under  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  96,  97. 

Noble,  Henry,  surety  for  Thomas 
Pinckney,  261 ;  member  of  Council, 
signs  Church  Act,  406;  member  of 
Commons,  505. 

No  Popery  Cry,  269. 

Norris,  Thomas,  mentioned,  134. 

North  Carolina,  mentioned,  5,  77,  235, 
278,  293,  294,  461,  506,  525,  545,  550, 
551, 554.      ■ 

Northey,  Sir  Edward,  Attorney  Gen- 
eral of  England,  436,  440,  441. 

Norton,  John,  mentioned,  149. 

Nova  Belgia,  emigrants  from,  180. 

Oats,  abundance  of,  yield,  187. 

Occasional  Conformity,  controversy 
in  England  regarding,  366,  408,  426. 

Octogenarian  Lady,  238  w. 

Oglethorpe's  expedition,  577,  578. 

Oldfield,  John,  member  of  Commons, 
505  n. 

Oldmixon,  John,  author,  15,  16; 
quoted,  145,  193,  208,  332,  351,  378, 
405,  415,  419,  425,  444,  486. 

Old  Town  mentioned,  37,  402 ;  laid  out 
anew,  and  lots  redistributed,  163, 
164 ;  abandoned,  182. 

Oldys,  Joseph,  mentioned,  150. 

O'Neal,  John  B.,  mentioned,  29. 

Orange  Quarter,  319,  448. 

Osborne,  Rev.  Mr.,  escapes  Indians, 
534. 

O'SuUivan,  Captain  Florence,  master 
on  board  Carolina  on  fleet  in  the 
Downes,  121  and  7i. ;  a  Deputy,  124; 
writes  to  Lord  Ashley,  136;  writes 
for  a  minister  to  be  sent,  137 ;  men- 
tioned, 155,  156;  complained  of  as 
incompetent  as  a  surveyor,  157; 
owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164; 
takes  part,  it  is   alleged,  in  civil 


IKDEX 


751 


disturbances,  169;  Braine  makes 
charges  against,  170 ;  made  captain, 
171 ;  mentioned,  307,  318. 

Owen,  William,  proposes  bringing  suit 
against  Yeamans,  124;  censures  le- 
gality of  election,  125,  126;  makes 
question  as  to  power  of  Governor 
and  Council,  133,  134,  135 ;  declared 
incapable  of  holding  office,  135 ;  is  a 
deputy,  136, 161 ;  mentioned,  153, 156, 
213,  685 ;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town, 
163. 

Oyster  Point,  or  White  Point,  men- 
tioned, 37;  lands  upon,  laid  out  for 
a  town,  163 ;  removal  from  Old  Town 
to,  182 ;  town  described,  183. 

Pacquereau,  Captain  Louis,  of  French 
tieet  captured,  400. 

Palatine,  term  defined,  59;  Province 
created  a  county  Palatine,  Ibid.,  94, 
95 ;  Court,  110 ;  to  name  Governor, 
140 ;  Assembly  objects  to  two  courts, 
241,  242;  mentioned,  274,  291,  504; 
list  of  Palatines,  see  Appendix  III, 
716. 

Palmer,  "a  young  stripling,"  gallant 
action  of,  535. 

Panama,  mentioned,  205,  258. 

Parish  System,  account  of,  559,  560 ; 
taken  from  Barbadoes,  Ibid.,  562, 
563,  694,  695. 

Parishes,  laid  out,  447, 448 ;  names  of. 
Ibid,  and  n. 

Parker,  name  of,  from  Barbadoes, 
327  71. 

Parliament,  102, 156, 161. 

Parris,  name  from  Barbadoes,  328  n. 

Parris,  Alexander,  commissioner  of 
free  school,  488;  commissioner  for 
building  church,  495 ;  member  of 
Commons,  505  7i. ;  mentioned,  586  ; 
on  commission  to  try  pirates,  609; 
commander  of  militia  in  Revolution 
of  1719,  654,  655. 

Parris  Island,  mentioned,  494  n. 

Parties,  formation  of,  152,  153. 

Partridge,  Nathaniel,  Provost  Mar- 
shal, 604. 

Peas,  abundance  of,  187. 

Pell,  Ignatius,  pirate,  agrees  to  become 
evidence  for  Crown,  604 ;  refuses  to 
fly,  and  testifies,  611,  617. 


Pendarvis,  Joseph,  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164;  receiver  of  funds  for 
expedition  to  St.  Augustine,  217 ; 
member  of  Assembly,  239. 

PendiQum  engine,  for  husking  rice, 
349. 

Penelope,  The  Ship,  taken  by  pirates, 
575. 

Penn,  William,  mentioned,  56. 

Pennsylvania,  Province  of,  mentioned, 
2,  229,  294,  2%,  479. 

Percival,  Andrew,  Governor  of  plan- 
tation on  Edisto,  175,  176;  Indians 
make  deeds  to,  179;  member  of 
Council,  197 ;  petitions  Sothell  to 
assume  government  as  a  Proprietor, 
230;  mentioned,  236. 

Percy,  name  of,  from  Antigua,  328  n. 

Perdriau,  Huguenot  family  of,  324  n. 

Perkins,  Simon,  colony  offered  to,  from 
emigrants,  180. 

Peronneau,  Huguenot  family  of,  324  n. 

Peru,  mentioned,  638. 

Petit  Kene,  with  Grinard  brings  out 
colony  of  Huguenots,  180,  181 ;  colo- 
nists of,  mentioned,  319,  321,  402. 

Pettibois     See  Nicholas. 

Pettitt,  John,  colony  offered  to,  with 
Perkins,  for  emigrants,  180. 

Pe3rre.  Huguenot  family  of,  324  7i. 

Philadelphia,  mentioned,  309. 

Phoenix,  The  Ship,  brings  a  number 
of  families  from  New  York,  144. 

Phcenix,  The  Man-of-War,  623,  663. 

Pierce,  Captain,  commands  Indians 
in  Barnwell's  expedition,  499. 

Pierpont,  Rev.  Benjamin,  335. 

Pilots,  provided,  344. 

Pinckney,  Charles,  mentioned,  36. 

Pinckney,  from  Jamaica,  327  n. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  arrives  in  the 
Loyal  Jamaica,  and  gives  surety, 
261 ;  deposition  of,  in  regard  to  prize, 
262. 

Pinkerd,  John,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164  n. 

Piracy,  Statute  of  Henry  VIII,  254; 
made  of  force,  566. 

Pirates,  mentioned,  33;  occupied  by 
coast  of  Carolina,  204;  encouraged 
by  Charles  II,  legitimate  cause  of 
sympathy   between   colonists   and, 


752 


INDEX 


205 ;  but  not  harbored  by  them,  206 ; 
message  of  Proprietors  iu  regard  to, 
219;  charges  against  colonists  of 
complicity  with,  examined  and  re- 
futed, 250,  251,  252,  253,  254,  255, 
256,  257,  258;  taken  and  executed, 
312 ;  again  appear  on  coast,  564,  565, 
566;  Statute  of  Henry  VIII  in  regard 
to  adopted,  certain,  taken,  tried 
under  and  executed,  566,567  ;  another 
party  taken,  trifed,  and  executed, 
575 ;  Governor's  message  in  regard 
to,  586 ;  pirates  infest  coast,  in  no 
sense  Carolina  pirates,  587;  driven 
from  Providence  take  refuge  at 
Cape  Fear,  Thatch  or  Black  Beard 
appears  off  Charles  Town  bar,  takes 
vessel  with  citizens  and  demands 
medicines  on  pain  of  death  of  pris- 
oners, 589,  590;  demand  complied 
with,  591 ;  Bonnet  joins  Thatch,  593, 
594;  their  depredations,  595;  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  organizes  expedition 
against,  596 ;  Colonel  Rhett  in  com- 
mand proceeds  in  search  of,  battle 
with  and  captures  Bonnet,  597,  598, 
599,  600,  601, 602, 603,  604.  See  Bon- 
net for  escape,  recapture,  trial,  and 
execution ;  Moody  appears,  Governor 
Johnson  organizes  and  commands 
another  expedition  against,  608,  609 ; 
attacks  and  captures  Worley,  612, 
613,  614,  615,  616. 

Plantations,  English  governments  of, 
51,  .52. 

Plowden,  Francis,  killed,  393. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  mentioned,  1,  688. 

Pocotaligo,  mentioned,  533,  535. 

Poe's  Story  of  Gold  Bug,  mentioned, 
262. 

Pollock,  Thomas,  of  North  Carolina, 
leader  of  faction,  497;  charges 
against  Barnwell,  .501,  502,  503,  525. 

Police  (Military)  System,  established, 
9,  10,  .394. 

Pompion  Hill  Church,  mentioned,  307, 
408,  696. 

Pon  Pon  Kiver,  mentioned,  546. 

Poor  Laws.  515. 

Popell,  William,  Receiver,  with  Pen- 
darvis,  of  funds  for  expedition 
against  St.  Augustine,  217. 


Popish  Plot,  mentioned,  402. 

Popish  Terror,  193. 

Population,  estimates  of,  115, 140,  144, 
185,  302,  315,  337,  341,  477,  478,  481. 
See  Appendix  VII,  722. 

Porcher,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Pork,  exported  to  West  Indies,  350. 

Porter,  John,  of  North  Carolina,  sent 
to  England  to  complain  of  Governor 
Johnson,  461. 

Portman.  Christopher,  chosen  Repre- 
sentative, 156,  161 ;  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164  n. ;  comes  from  Bar- 
badoes,  327  n. 

Port  Peril,  Sandford  so  names  St. 
Helena  Sound,  87. 

Port  Eoyal,  mentioned,  6;  Ribault 
names,  44;  mentioned,  48,  49,  50; 
Sandford  enters,  86,  87 ;  leaves,  90 ; 
expedition  to  be  sent  to,  114;  in- 
structions to  colonists  upon  their 
arrival  there,  116;  mentioned,  122; 
colonists  under  Sayle  enter,  125; 
old  election  there,  125;  sails  from, 
126 ;  mentioned,  177 ;  Lord  Cardross 
selects  for  his  colony,  195;  men- 
tioned, 214,  215;  colony  at,  destroyed 
by  Spaniards,  217;  rendezvous  of  ex- 
pedition against  St.  Augustine,  381 ; 
Beaufort  Town  built  upon  Port  Royal 
River,  493 ;  mentioned,  531 ;  Indians 
attack  settlers  upon,  534 ;  mentioned, 
546,  547 ;  small  fort  at,  703. 

Port  Boyal,  The  Ship,  mentioned  as 
one  of  the  fleet  on  the  Downes  about 
to  sail,  115,  120;  loses  an  anchor  at 
Barbadoes,  122 ;  is  cast  away  near 
Abaco,  123. 

Porto  Bello,  mentioned,  205,  258. 

Portugal,  agent  offered  reward  for 
obtaining  exportation  of  rice  free 
to,  517. 

Portuguese  pirates,  588. 

Postell,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Postoffice,  mentioned,  3;  established, 
352. 

Powder  Eeceiver,  controversy  over 
the  appointment  of,  582,  583. 

Power,  Captain,  of  the  Emperor, 
captured  by  pirates,  598. 

Powis,  John,  member  of  Assembly,  239. 

Powis,  T.,  Attorney  General  of  Eng- 


INDE:5t 


rsB 


land,  opinion  upon  trade  to  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  222,  223. 

Poyass,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Precedency,  Rules  of,  under  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  Appendix  I, 
713,  714. 

Presbyterians,  churches  of,  334;  men- 
tioned, 338,  404,  699. 

Prettye,  Henry,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Price,  John,  mentioned,  111,  677,  and 
in  List  of  Landgraves,  Appendix  IV, 
718. 

Prices,  act  was  certain,  225;  of  labor, 
etc.,  482. 

Privateers,  question  as  to  the  employ- 
ment of,  255,  256. 

Probate  office,  records  of,  260,  262. 

Proprietary  governments,  men- 
tioned, 5 ;  nature  of,  52 ;  King 
James  determines  to  suppress,  213, 
218,  229 ;  Randolph  urges  the  King 
to  do  so,  293,  294,  295;  Board  of 
Trade  joins  in  doing  so,  296,  297, 
681,  682,  709. 

Proprietors,  Lords,  mentioned,  9,  37 ; 
grant  to,  50  j  sketches  of,  61,  62,  63, 
64 ;  powers  conferred  upon,  by  char- 
ter, 65,  66,  67,  68j  meet  to  devise 
plans,  73;  form  joint  ^ stock  com- 
pany, an3!  issue  proposals  for  colo- 
nists," 73,'^4T^  appoint  Sir  William 
Bef^eTSy 'Governor  of  Carolina,  74; 
lay  off  Albemarle  and  Clarendon 
counties,  74,  75;  mentioned,  80; 
Sandford  takes  possession  of  terri- 
tory for,  82,  83 ;  Fundamental  Con- 
stitutions adopted  by,  94 ;  provisions 
of,  in  regard  to,  95, 96,  97,  98,  99, 100, 
101,  102,  103;  mentioned,  104,  105, 
107 ;  establish  government  under, 
110;  mentioned.  111,  112;  commis- 
sion for  deputies,  116, 117 ;  disregard 
provisions  of  charter,  120;  deputies 
of,  124;  offer  of,  to  Rev.  Mr.  Bond, 
132 ;  Governor  and  Council  complain 
of  Owen,  134;  mentioned,  140,  141; 
disregard  provisions  of  charter,  141, 
142;  "out  of  purse,"  142;  men- 
tioned, 143,  145,  147,  148,  151,  154, 
157, 158,  160, 164,  165,  166 ;  seven  of, 
churchmen,  167;  send  out  "Tempo- 
3c 


rary"  and  "Agrarian  Law,"  167, 
168,  169 ;  some  of,  establish  planta- 
tion on  Edisto,  175,  176;  disregard 
provisions  of  charter,  178 ;  purchase 
lands  from  Indians,  179 ;  mentioned, 
181;  instructions  of,  as  to  location 
of  town,  182;  mentioned,  183;  give 
privilege  to  capture  Indians,  189; 
offers  of,  to  immigrants,  190 ;  modify 
constitutions,  192;  mentioned,  194; 
agreement  with  Lord  Cardross's  col- 
ony, 195;  mentioned,  197,  198;  letter 
of,  in  regard  to  ballots,  198,  200; 
mentioned,  201 ;  recommend  Quarry, 
202;  mentioned,203,  204,  206;  Com- 
missioner West,  207;  instructions 
of,  Ibid.;  mentioned,  208;  announce 
death  King  Charles  II,  209 ;  commis- 
sion Morton,  210;  approve  conduct 
of  Colleton,  218,  219;  mentioned, 
224,  225 ;  deny  Fundamental  Consti- 
tutions of  1669,  226,  227;  proclaim 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  229 ; 
abandon  Colleton,  231;  mentioned, 
232 ;  commission  Ludwell,  233 ;  men- 
tioned, 237,  239,  241,  243;  issue  be- 
tween colonists  and,  246;  declare 
purpose  of  abandoning  constitution, 
246 ;  opinion  of,  in  regard  to  force  of 
habeas  corpus  Act,  247,  248,  249 ;  dis- 
allow Jury  Act,  250 ;  disapprove  act 
regarding  elections,  251 ;  mentioned, 
258,  260;  surrender  no  power,  264; 
several  of,  advance  funds,  274; 
neglect  of  colony,  275;  attempted 
meetings  of,  276,  277;  Archdale 
sent  out  by,  277 ;  mentioned,  287, 
288,  289;  make  another  effort  to 
impose  Fundamental  Constitutions, 
291 ;  disregard  of  charter,  292 ;  re- 
fuse demand  of  Assembly  in  regard 
to,  293 ;  send  out  a  Chief  Justice  and 
Attorney  General,  297,  298;  men- 
tioned, 300,  301,  305 ;  letters  to  Chief 
Justice  and  Attorney  General,  305, 
306 ;  letter  of  Governor  and  Council 
to,  308;  mentioned,  314;  summoned 
to  answer  in  regard  to  Blake's  ap- 
pointment as  Governor,  388;  com- 
mission Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  389; 
Assembly  thanks,  392 ;  Ash  sent  to, 
413;    powers  of,  under  charter,   in 


754 


INDEX 


regard  to  religion,  433;  ordered  to 
declare  Church  acts  void,  437,  444; 
controversy  with  Assembly  about 
appointment  of  Receiver,  456;  as- 
cendancy of  dissenters  in  Board  of, 
458,459 ;  inform  Governor  of  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Johnson  Commissary 
Bishop  of  London,  472 ;  grant  of,  to 
de  Graffenried,  496 ;  proclaim  King 
George  I,  527 ;  grant  extraordinary 
to  Trott,  529;  unable  to  assist  colo- 
nists, 539,  541,  552 ;  pientioned,  556 ; 
revoke  Trott's  veto  powers,  564 ;  ap- 
point Robert  Johnson  Governor, 
568;  private  correspondence  with 
Trott,  569;  mentioned,  571,  572,  573; 
consider  proposition  for  establish- 
ment of  the  Province  of  Azilia,  576, 
577 ;  mentioned,  578,  579 ;  offer  "  do- 
nation," 581 ;  mentioned,  624;  good- 
will of  colonists  to,  626;  order  to 
dissolve  Assembly,  626,  627 ;  and  re- 
peal acts  in  regard  to  elections,  628 ; 
in  regard  to  Yamassee  lands,  629; 
mentioned,  630,  631,  632,  633,  634; 
Mr.  Yonge  sent  with  memorial  to, 
635;  composition  of,  635;  Yonge 
oresents  memorial,  636,  637,  638, 
639;  memorial  resented  by,  640; 
Yonge  sent  back  with  letter  from, 
641;  new  appointments  to  Council, 
642;  and  repeal  of  duty  act,  642; 
Yonge's  criticism  of,  643,  644 ;  whole 
province  rises  in  confederacy  against , 
646,  647,  648,  649,  650,  651,  652,  653, 
654,  655,  656,  657,  658,  659,  660,  661, 
662,  663;  and  is  overthrown,  664; 
mentioned,  670,  671,  672,  673,  674, 
675,  676 ;  make  an  effort  to  recover 
their  government,  677 ;  finally  sur- 
render to  the  Crown,  678,  679,  680 ; 
mentioned,  696,  697,  699;  devolu- 
tions of  titles  of,  711. 

Providence,  Island  of,  mentioned,  113, 
296,  645,  663. 

Province,  definition  of  term,  77. 

Provisional  Government,  established, 
673. 

Provost  Marshal,  10;  Edward  Raw- 
lins, P.  M.,  dies,  309;  Trott  empow- 
ered, to  appoint  his  own,  529;  Na- 
thaniel Partridge,  604. 


Public  Houses,  acts  in  regard  to,  285, 
286,  514. 

Puritans,  mentioned,  49,  318,  326. 

Quakers,  mentioned,  272, 274, 278,  329, 
461,  670,  671,  699. 

Quarantine,  established,  513. 

Quarry,  Robert,  chosen  Governor  by 
Council,  202 ;  charged  with  complic- 
ity with  pirates,  203 ;  a  deputy,  210 ; 
mentioned,  232,  236,  237,  276 ;  plan- 
tation of,  345. 

Quelch,  Captain  Benjamin,  member 
of  Commons,  505  n. 

Quo  warranto,  writ  of,  213,  437. 

Baleigh,  Sir  Walter,  mentioned,  49; 
charter  of,  quoted,  53;  mentioned, 
58. 

Ramage,  B.  J.,  author,  33. 

Ramillies,  victory  of,  mentioned,  452. 

Ramsay,  David,  author,  18;  quoted, 
252,  309,  348,  350. 

Randolph,  Edward,  collector  of  King's 
customs,  mentioned,  202,  260 ;  com- 
plains of  violation  of  Navigation 
Act,  293;  recommendations  for  the 
enforcement  of,  294;  report  of  to 
Board  of  Trade,  301 ;  mentioned,  304, 
307,  311,  314,  368,  374,  566. 

Raven,  John,  member  of  Commons, 
505  71. 

Ravenel,  Daniel,  father  and  son,  602  n. 

Raveuel,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Ravenel,  Rene,  member  of  Assembly, 
239/1. 

Rawlins,  Edward,  death  of,  309 ;  from 
St.  Christopher,  327  n. 

Read,  Captain  Thomas,  of  the  ship. 
Fortune,  captured  by  pirates, 
596. 

Receiver,  office  of,  141,  456,  458,  569, 
573,  624,  660. 

Receiver  of  Rents,  241. 

Red  Sea,  pirates  from,  259. 

Register,  office  of,  under  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  103,  141,  158 
and  n.,  176. 

Reiner,  Captain  George,  of  the  Loyal 
Jamaica,  arrives,  and  gives  security, 
261  and  n. 

Religion,  provisions  of  Fundamental 
Constitutions  in  regard  to,  103, 104, 
105,  106. 


INDEX 


755 


Keligious  Sects,  ratio  of,  338. 

Rents,  arrears  of,  624,  625. 

Revenge,  Pirate  Craft,  593,  594,  595, 
613,  614. 

Rhett,  William,  mentioned,  33 ;  sketch 
of,  369;  command  of  expedition  to 
St.  Augustine  offered  to,  and  de- 
clined, 383;  Colleton  members  com- 
plain of  ill  usage  by,  in  election  for 
House,  385 ;  commands  fleet  against 
French,  397,  400;  mentioned,  406; 
is  made  Speaker,  453;  mentioned, 
455;  commissioner  for  building 
church,  495;  Speaker  of  Commons, 
505  ?i.;  commissioner  of  free  school, 
511 ;  committee  of  correspondence, 
517 ;  dissents  from  address  to  Gov- 
ernor, 530 ;  election  law  not  accepta- 
ble to,  563;  mentioned,  591;  com- 
mands fleet  against  pirates,  596, 597, 
599,  600,  601,  602 ;  defeats  and  capt- 
ures Stede  Bonnet,  603,  604;  men- 
tioned, 606;  declines  command  of 
second  fleet,  607;  accepts  commis- 
sion to  recapture  Bonnet,  and  re- 
captures him,  612;  Bonnet  appeals 
to  him  for  mercy,  619,  620;  men- 
tioned, 621,  630,  636,  645;  escapes 
personal  effect  of  Revolution,  656, 
660 ;  yet  preserved  credit  with  Pro- 
prietors, 661;  repairs  fortifications, 
663;  mentioned,  (iM,  690;  death  of, 
690  n. ;  gift  of,  to  St.  Philip's  Church, 
696. 

Rhode  Island,  mentioned,  5,  293,  294, 
479. 

Ribault,  Jean,  mentioned,  8,  37;  sent 
out  in  command  of  two  ships,  lands, 
and  takes  possession  in  name  of  King 
of  France,  44,  45 ;  leaves  garrison  at 
Port  Royal  and  returns  to  France, 
45 ;  mentioned,  48. 

Rice,  exported  before  end  of  seven- 
teenth century,  348;  when  first  in- 
troduced, 349;  its  success,  349,  350; 
mentioned  in  Governor  Johnson's 
Reports,  478;  agent  appointed  to 
watch  interest  of  colonists  in  regard 
to,  516;  mentioned,  553;  effect  of 
Navigation  acts  upon,  687. 

Richard,  The  Pirate,  560. 

Eichmond,  The  Ship,  brings  Hugue- 


nots, 180,  181;  T.  A.  Clerk  of,  re- 
ports, 183,  185;  mentioned,  319, 
322. 

Riots  Election,  384,  386. 

Risbee,  Joseph,  presents  Church  Act 
to  Governor,  406 ;  brought  to  bar  of 
House,  458;  is  made  speaker,  458; 
signs  address  to  Proprietors  in  vin- 
dication of  Governor  Johnson,  470. 

Rising  Son,  loss  of  the  ship,  310, 
311. 

Rivers,  John,  agent  of  Lord  Ashley, 
116;  mentioned,  127,  154. 

Rivers,  Professor  James  W.,  author, 
mentioned,  28;  quoted,  105, 177, 267, 
281,  348,  501,  505. 

Roanoke,  Inlet  of,  296. 

Robert,  Rev.  Pierre,  Huguenot  minis- 
ter, 337. 

Robinson,  John,  member  of  Grand 
Council,  161;  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164;  appointed  captain,  171. 

Redd,  George,  mentioned  as  Attorney 
General,  475. 

Rogers,  Captain  Woodes,  dispatched 
with  naval  force  against  pirates,  565 ; 
mentioned,  586;  arrives  at  New 
Providence  and  receives  surrender 
of  large  number  of  pirates,  588; 
mentioned,  689,  616;  Governor  of 
Providence,  663. 

Roman  Catholics,  mentioned,  410 ;  ex- 
cluded from  benefit  of  act  to  encour- 
age importation  of  white  servants, 
556. 

Romania,  Cape,  mentioned,  76,  80; 
Sandford  names  it  Cape  Carteret,  92 ; 
mentioned  as  Romano,  125. 

Rosin,  mentioned  as  an  export,  553. 

Royal  African  Co.,  members  of,  men- 
tioned, 357. 

Royal  James,  The  Ship,  Bonnet 
changes  name  of  his  ship  to,  596; 
mentioned  in  battle  with  Rhett,  599, 
600,  601,  602;  surrenders  to  Rhett, 
603;  employed  in  Governor  John- 
son's expedition,  613. 

Royal  or  Provincial  Government, 
defined,  52 ;  established  in  Virginia, 
Jamaica,  and  Barbadoes,  57;  in 
South  Carolina,  673. 

Royes,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 


756 


INDEX 


Ruffly,  Thomas,  murdered  by  Indians, 
534. 

Suss,  John,  member  of  Commons,  signs 
address  to  the  King,  571  n. 

Eussell,  Captain  John,  of  the  Port 
Royal,  115. 

Rye,  lands  produced  good,  187. 

Eyswick,  Peace  of,  mentioned,  289, 
3(J5. 

Sacheverell,  Dr.,  mentioned,  476. 

Sacramental  Test,  imposition  of,  408, 
409,  432. 

Sainsbury,  W.  Noel,  mentioned,  32. 

St.  Andrew's  Parish,  established,  447 ; 
representatives  of,  561 ;  St.  George's 
taken  from,  584. 

St.  Augustine,  Town  of,  mentioned, 
34,  35,  41,  80,  127 ;  garrison  at,  130; 
mentioned,  154,  169;  slaves  desert- 
ing, escaped  to,  170;  Spaniards  re- 
treat to,  171 ;  mentioned,  195,  205, 
214;  preparations  for  expedition 
against,  217 ;  invasion  and  destruc- 
tion of  Cardross's  colony,  219,  220, 
221 ;  mentioned,  248,  286,  302 ;  Gov- 
ernor Moore's  expedition  against, 
378,  379,  380,  382,  383;  mentioned, 
392,  394,  396,  411,  479,  531,  532,  543, 
574,  675,  683. 

St.  Bartholomew's  Parish,  established, 
447 ;  special  provisions  as  to  elections, 
562,  573  ;  additional  number  given, 
626. 

St.  Denis  Parish,  derivation  of  the 
name,  319;  establishment  of  parish, 
447;  salary  of  rector,  448;  repre- 
sentation of,  561,  626. 

St.  Domingo,  mentioned,  127. 

St.  George's  Bay,  Spanish  name  for 
Charleston  harbor,  126,  130. 

St.  George's  Parish,  established,  584. 

St.  Helena  Island,  named,  41 ;  men- 
tioned, 87 ;  Dr.  Woodward  captured 
at,  122;  Sandford's  men  land  upon, 
126 ;  "  Queen  and  Captain  "  of,  179  ; 
inhabitants  of,  flee  for  refuge,  534. 

St.  Helena  Parish,  established,  447 ; 
representatives  of,  561 ;  special  pro- 
vision as  to  elections  of,  562,  573; 
additional  representatives  given, 
626. 

St.  James's  Goose  Creek  Parish,  estab- 


lished, 447 ;  representatives  of,  561, 
563,  626. 

St.  James's  Santee  Parish,  estab- 
lished, 447;  rector  allowed  to  read 
service  in  French,  448;  representa- 
tive of,  561. 

St.  John's  Parish,  established,  447  ; 
representatives  of,  561,  625. 

St.  John's  River,  Florida,  mentioned, 
44,  381. 

St.  Julien,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

St.  Julien,  Peter  de,  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238 ;  member  of  Council, 
642. 

St.  Loe,  Captain,  of  the  Valour,  545. 

St.  Mathias  River,  mentioned,  64,  89. 

St.  Michael's  Church,  183, 334,  416. 

St.  Paul's  Parish,  established,  447; 
representatives  of,  561,  625. 

St.  Philip's  Church,  first  church 
erected,  183,  334;  mentioned,  408; 
Lady  Blake  contributes  to  the  adorn- 
ment of,  698 ;  beauty  of,  708. 

St.  Philip's  Parish,  established,  416 ; 
defined,  447;  parochial  charges  of, 
487 ;  new  church  to  be  built  for,  495 ; 
commissioner  appointed,  509 ;  library 
to  be  kept  in  the  parsonage  of  and 
minister  of,  librarian,  510;  repre- 
sentatives of,  561,  563. 

St.  Thomas,  Island  of,  mentioned,  263 ; 
trade  with,  479;  mentioned,  595, 
617. 

St.  Thomas's  Parish,  established,  447 ; 
representatives  of,  561,  563,  626. 

Salvano,  author,  quoted,  40. 

Sance,  Baron  de,  mentioned,  49. 

Sanders,  William,  appointed  Attorney 
General,  465. 

Sandford's  Voyage,  Yeamans  commis- 
sions Captain  Robert  Sandford  for 
voyage  of  discovery,  81 ;  Sandford's 
account  of  same,  83,  84, 85,  86,  87,  88, 
89,  90,  91 ;  mentioned,  122,  126,  248. 

Santee  River,  mentioned,  233, 319, 545. 

Sanute,  the  Indian,  gives  warning  of 
.  uprising,  532,  533. 

Sarah,  The  Frigate,  mentioned,  575  n. 

Sarazen,  the  Huguenot  family  of,  324  n. 

Satur,  Jacob,  commissioner  to  build 
church,  495 ;  member  of  Council,  642, 
643. 


INDEX 


75T 


Satur,  Thomas,  member  of  Commons, 
signs  address  to  the  King,  571  n, 

Saunders,  William  L.,  editor  Colonial 
Records  of  North  Carolina,  93; 
quoted,  502. 

Savannah,  or  Savano  Town,  237,  639, 
703. 

Savannah  Indians,  mentioned,  456. 

Saxby,  William,  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer to  Proprietors,  177. 

Sayle,  Nathaniel,  mentioned,  138; 
owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164,  465. 

Sayle,  William,  mentioned,  105 ;  sent 
by  Proprietors  to  explore  coast,  113; 
favorable  report  of,  114;  mentioned, 
120 ;  made  Governor,  124 ;  summons 
freemen  to  elect  Representatives, 
125;  mentioned,  128,  130;  letter  to 
Lord  Ashley  praying  for  minister, 
131 ;  with  Council  makes  order  for 
observance  of  Sabbath,  132,  133; 
mentioned,  137  ;  death  of,  138 ;  men- 
tioned, 139,  154,  189,  191,  224,  227, 
248,  318,  328,  689. 

Schenkingh,  Bernard,  on  committee 
to  consider  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions, 225;  to  be  restored  as  chief 
judge,  237  ;  one  of  the  Goose  Creek 
men,  238;  comes  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. ;  plantation  of,  345 ;  men- 
tioned, 691. 

Schools.  See  Free  School,  700,  701, 
702. 

Scire  Facias,  writ  of,  71,  437,  671. 

Scotch-Irish,  mentioned,  6. 

Scotland,  emigrants  from,  195,  liXj; 
exiles  from,  197,  214;  ship  from, 
223;  rebels  from,  558. 

Screamen,  Thomas,  trial  of,  149. 

Screven,  Rev.  Thomas,  brings  Bap- 
tist colony,  325. 

Scrivener,  Dr.  William,  Deputy  for 
Lord  Berkeley,  124;  joins  in  appli- 
cation for  a  minister,  132 ;  supports 
Owen  in  opposition  to  Governor,  134, 
135 ;  mentioned,  153,  318. 

Seabrook,  Captain,  commands  com- 
pany during  French  invasion,  398. 

Sea  Flower,  The  Sloop,  mentioned,  400. 

Seamen,  act  relating  to,  225;  not 
above  20,  properly  accounted  set- 
tlers in  the  province,  479. 


Sea  Nymph,  The  Ship,  pressed  into 
service  against  pirates,  597 ;  men- 
tioned, 599,  60.^  607,  613. 

Secretary,  Office  of,  under  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  141 ;  at  Colum- 
bia, 260. 

Serre,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Servants,  acts  relating  to,  225,  358, 
359;  mentioned,  355,  556. 

Sewee  Bay,  colonists  land  in,  125; 
mentioned,  236;  French  vessel  capt- 
ured in,  400. 

Shadoo,  Indian  Chief,  entertains  Sand- 
ford,  83. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of  (see  Lord  Ash- 
ley), mentioned,  109;  Lord  Ashley 
made,  165;  religious  views  of,  167; 
mentioned,  175,  176;  contributes  to  i^ 
fund  for  Indian  trade,  177 ;  credit  ' 
for  plan  of  purchasing  lands  from  '  ^ 
Indians,   178,   179;    death    of,    269; 
mentioned,  275,  357,  711. 

Shaftesbury,  Second  Earl  of,  succeeds 
his  father,  the  first  Earl,  character 
of,  269 ;  represented  by  his  son.  Lord 
Ashley,  Ibid.:  mentioned,  291,  428. 

Shaftesbury,  Third  Earl  of,  men- 
tioned, 269;  declines  to  come  to 
Carolina,  276 ;  mentioned,  291,  675. 

Shaftesbury,  Lady,  letter  in  regard  to 
sale  of  province,  669,  700,  701. 

Shaftesbury  Papers,  mentioned,  120, 

•  (Wi8. 

Shecut,  Dr.,  author,  quoted,  703. 

Sheep,  mentioned,  188. 

Shelton,  Mr.,  Secretary  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, mentioned,  540,  ()30,  6:36, 
711. 

Sheriff,  mentioned,  10;  sheriff  and 
judge  same  person,  241,  243. 

Ships,  of  the  province,  477,  479. 

Shoram,  The  Man-of-war,  mentioned, 
574,  575. 

Sig^ony,  under  Fundamental  Consti- 
tutions, 95. 

Silk,  manufacture  expected  of  Hugue- 
nots, 181 ;  manufacture  of,  350 ;  im- 
ported, 478;  mentioned,  553. 

Silk  Hope,  Governor  Johnson's  plan- 
tation, 345,  ;>50,  397. 

Simonds,  Frances,  gives  land  for  In- 
dependent Church,  698. 


758 


INDEX 


Simons,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  n. 

Skeene,  Alexander,  comes  from  Bar- 
badoes,  327  n. ;  member  of  Council, 
568;  on  commission  to  try  pirates, 
575 ;  left  out  of  Council,  640 ;  mem- 
ber of  House  of  Assembly,  646;  a 
leader  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Pro- 
prietary government,  647,  648. 

Skipwith,  Sir  Fulwar,  represents 
minor  Earl  of  Craven,  635. 

Skrine,  Jonathan,  member  of  Council, 
642. 

Slavery,  Institution  of.  See  Negro 
Slaves. 

Slaves,  Indian.    See  Indians. 

Small  pox,  mentioned,  308,  313. 

Smith,  Henry,  A.  M.,  author,  quoted, 
693. 

Smith,  Henry,  of  Caversham,  trustee 
to  receive  surrender  to  the  Crown, 
679. 

Smith,  James,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Smith,  Michael,  mentioned,  144 ;  owner 
of  lot  in  Old  Town,  164. 

Smith,  Paul,  mentioned,  121,  125, 132, 
318. 

Smith,  Thomas,  one  of  the  first  colony, 
.121,  134;  owner  of  lot  in  Old  Town, 
164. 

Smith,  Thomas,  Landgrave,  121  n.; 
on  committee  to  consider  Funda- 
mental Constitutions,  225 ;  appointet 
Governor,  231 ;  one  of  the  Goose 
Creek  men,  238  n. ;  mentioned,  246 ; 
supposed  author  of  jury  law,  250  ; 
made  Governor  and  Landgrave,  266; 
resigns  government,  267 ;  appeals  to 
Proprietors  to  send  out  one  of  their 
number,  276;  mentioned,  285,  288, 
292,  348,  349,  403,  696. 

Smyter,  Captain,  of  the  Minerva,  capt- 
ured by  pirates,  616. 

Snow  Hill  or  Nahucke,  Indian  fort 
in  North  Carolina,  525. 

Social  Condition  of  Colony,  708,  709. 

Sothell,  Seth,  mentioned,  226  n. ;  ar- 
rives, claims  government  as  a  Pro- 
prietor, 229 ;  bears  certificate  of  his 
right  to  office,  230 ;  Proprietors  learn 
of  his  arrival,  231;  deny  his  right  to 
government,  232 ;  but  make  no  issue. 


233 ;  his  character,  233 ;  mentioned, 
235,  237,  243,  246,  263,  265,  266,  273, 
275,  276,  277,  285,  291,  364,  387,  459, 
497,  674,  675,  689,  691. 

Soubise,  Due  de  Fontenay,  proposed 
French  colony  of,  49. 

South  Sea  Bubble,  proposed  company 
for  purchase  of  Carolina  in,  666,  667, 
668,  669,  670,  671. 

Spain,  recognition  by,  of  England's 
possession  in  America,  129;  but  no 
settlement  of  boundary,  130;  men- 
tioned, 218;  King  of,  connives  at 
raid  from  St.  Augustine,  and  de- 
struction of  Carolina  colony,  220; 
mentioned,  255,  256,  394,  453;  agent 
offered  reward  for  obtaining  free 
exportation  of  rice  to,  517;  men- 
tioned, 645. 

Spaniards,  mentioned,  3,  4,  9,  38,  40, 
80,  87,  113,  122, 126,  127, 138, 146, 169, 
187,  205,  210,  211,  214,  216,  217,  219, 
248,  446,  452,  486,  531,  547,  564,  683, 
684. 

Spots  wood.  Governor  of  Virginia, 
502,  545,  549,  592,  621. 

Stanhope,  General,  mentioned,  538, 540. 

Staner,  Peter,  member  of  Commons, 
505  n. 

Stanway,  James,  appointed  by  Pro- 
prietors, naval  officer,  677. 

Stanyarne,  James,  member  of  Assem- 
bly, 239  n. 

Stanyarne,  John,  member  of  Assem- 
bly, opposes  Church  Act,  409. 

Stanyon,  Captain,  mentioned,  81. 

Starkey,  Plantation  of,  345. 

Stobo,  Kev.  Archibald,  providential 
stranding  upon  shores,  311,  335. 

Stone,  Captain,  intercepts  Indians,  546. 

Stono  Kiver,  mentioned,  179,  236,  416. 

Stool,  Captain,  of  scout  boat  sent  out 
by  Governor  Johnson,  396. 

Strode,  John,  of  Barbadoes,  fits  out 
vessel  for  Carolina,  143;  comes 
from  Barbadoes,  327  n. 

Stuart  Town,  of  Cardross's  colony,  494. 

Success,  The  Man-of-war,  brings  as- 
sistance from  Virginia,  545. 

Sugar  Islands,  mentioned,  184,  211. 

Sullivan's  Island,  name  of,  121 ; 
O'Sullivan  deserts  charge  of  cannon 


INDEX 


759 


on,  169;  scene  of  Poe's  romance, 
Gold  Bug,  262 ;  watch  upon,  396, 
397;  mentioned,  398 ;  Bonnet  recapt- 
ured on,  612,  613. 

Summers,  Thomas,  member  of  Com- 
mons, signs  address  to  King,  571. 

Sumter,  General  Thomas,  mentioned, 
22. 

Sunderland,  Earl  of,  mentioned,  436. 

Surrender  of  Charter,  678,  679. 

Surveyor  General,  Office  of,  141,  160, 
170. 

Swift,  Dean,  mentioned,  471. 

Swiss,  colony  of,  323 ;  massacre  of,  in 
North  Carolina,  497 ; 

Symons,  Henry,  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 134. 

Tabular  Statement,  condition  of 
Provinces,  by  Berresford,  554. 

Tallow,  exported  to  West  Indies,  350. 

Tar,  export  of,  303,  304,  653,  622. 

Taxes,  482. 

Temporary  Laws,  140,  145,  167,  168, 
1()9,  189. 

Test  Acts  of  England,  mentioned,  402, 
404,  405,  407. 

Texas,  mentioned,  27. 

Thatch,  Edward,  alias  Black  Beard, 
the  pirate,  589, 591,  592,  593, 594, 595, 
611,  621. 

Thomas,  Captain  George,  owner  of 
lot  in  Old  Town,  164  n. 

Thomas,  Bev.  Samuel,  MO,  411,  439, 
452. 

Thompson,  Thomas,  owner  of  lot  in 
Old  Town,  164 ;  comes  from  Barba- 
does,  327  n. 

Thornburgh,  William,  representing 
Proprietary  shares,  271,  276,  277, 
291,  388. 

Tigers,  reward  offered  for  destruction 
of,  352. 

Timothy,  Peter,  mentioned,  2. 

Tindall,  Hon.  J.  E.,  Commissioner  of 
Public  Records,  32. 

Titles  of  Proprietors,  devolution  of. 
See  Appendix  II,  714,  715. 

Tobacco,  found  to  grow  well,  187. 

Tories  in  England,  mentioned,  405, 
407,  42(),  429,  434,  437,  452. 

Townsend,  Thomas,  member  of  Com- 
mons, signs  address  to  the  King,  571. 


Townsend,  Lord,  mentioned,  538,  540. 

Trade  and  Plantations,  Board  of, 
constitution  and  business  of,  180; 
mentioned,  204 ;  Earl  Craven's  com- 
munications to,  in  regard  to  pirates, 
206, 219 ;  undertake  the  enforcement 
of  Navigation  acts,  297;  Randolph 
rouses  to  a  stricter  enforcement  of, 
301;  Randolph's  report  to,  302; 
urges  royal  authorities  to  resume 
government  of  the  colonies,  388; 
security  required  of  Governor  at 
instance  of,  389;  mentioned,  437;  ^. 
gives  new  vent  to  the  discontents  of 
the  colonists,  456 ;  pass  the  enforce- 
ment of  navigation  laws,  516 ;  Gov- 
ernor Craven's  appeal  for  assistance 
referred  to,  538 ;  Proprietors  address 
the  Board,  538,  539;  Mr.  Kettleby, 
agent  of  colony,  and  Mr.  Robert 
Johnson  appear  before  Board,  540, 
641,  542;  General  Spotswood  of  Vir- 
ginia complains  to  Board  that  Caro- 
lina had  not  fulfilled  her  obligations, 
549;  Mr.  Berresford  presents  me- 
morial to,  551,  552,  553,  554;  Messrs. 
Boone  and  Berresford  attend  and 
present  memorial  of  Commons,  571 ; 
Lord  Carteret  appears  before  same, 
572;  Crovernor  sends  letter  to,  622; 
determines  to  get  rid  of  charter,  633 ; 
Boone  again  presents  address  of 
Commons,  634,  635 ;  mentioned,  681, 
711. 

Treasurer,  office  of,  141. 

Trescott,  Hon.  William  Henry, 
quoted,  26. 

Tresvant,  Huguenot  family  of,  323  7i. 

Trott,  Ann,  460. 

Trott,  Nicholas,  Chief  Justice,  de- 
fines the  law  of  piracy,  254 ;  is  made 
the  first  Attorney  General,  297 ;  men- 
tioned, 309,  328  71.,  353  n. ;  sketch 
of,  368;  enters  Assembly  as  repre- 
sentative of  "country  party,"  con- 
tention with  Governor  Blake,  370, 
371,  372 ;  gives  other  offence,  is  sus- 
pended, 372,  373;  is  restored,  374; 
thwarts  Governor  Moore,  374,  375; 
reports  on  constitutions,  375,  ^76, 
377 ;  is  made  Chief  Justice,  3^K) ; 
signs    Church    Act    as    member   of 


760 


INDEX 


Council,  406;  charge  upon  subject 
of  witchcraft,  449,  450;  sentences 
woman  to  be  burned,  451;  his  posi- 
tion as  deputy  questioned,  455,  45(5; 
charges  against  as  judge,  457,  458, 
Boone  charges  with  corruption, 
463;  commissioner  of  free  scliool, 
488 ;  his  great  work  in  revising  and 
codifying  laws  of  the  Province,  508 ; 
in  England  obtains  extraordinary 
powers  from  Proprietors,  528,  529; 
election  law  objectionable  to,  563; 
Proprietors  revoke  veto  power,  564 ; 
mentioned,  565 ;  Judge  of  Admiralty 
organize  court  for  trial  of  pirates, 
566 ;  member  of  Council,  568;  in  pri- 
vate communication  with  Proprie- 
tors, 569,  572;  presides  at  trial  of 
pirates,  609;  his  conduct  on  Bon- 
net's trial,  617;  his  charge  to  Bon- 
net, 618;  mentioned,  carrying  on 
correspondence  with  secretary  of 
Proprietors,  629,  630 ;  charged  again 
with  corruption  and  tyranny,  630, 
631 ;  supports  Proprietors,  632 ;  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  send  Yonge  to  lay 
charges  against,  before  Proprietors, 
633;  mentioned,  636,  637;  Yonge 
presents  complaint  against,  639: 
Proprietors  resent  action  of  Gover- 
nor and  Council  thereon,  640,  641; 
name  him  on  new  Council,  642,  643 ; 
mentioned,  645 ;  threatens  Commons 
with  his  judicial  powers,  646;  men- 
tioned, 648;  goes  to  England,  665; 
mentioned,  673,  690,  691,  692;  death 
of,  694 ;  mentioned,  701. 

Trott,  Nicholas,  of  London,  men- 
tioned, 273 ;  Amy  settles  proprietary 
share  upon,  387 ;  mentioned,  428, 
429,  673,  674,  675,  676.  See  Danson 
V.  Trott. 

Trouillard,  Rev.  Florente  Phillipe, 
336. 

Tucker,  Bobert,  pirate,  trial  and  con- 
viction, 610,  611. 

Tugaloo  plantation  raided  by  Indians, 
546. 

Turbeville,  Fortesque,  deputy  of 
Duke  of  Beaufort,  corrupt  conduct 
in  election  of  Governor,  and  death 
of,  489. 


Turpentine,  manufacture  and  export 

of,  553,  622. 
Turpin,  Thomas,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 

Town,  164. 
Turtle   Dove,    The   Ship,    taken   by 

pirates,  575. 
Tuscarora  Indians,  rise  of,  in  North 

Carolina,  496,  497,  498;  expeditions 

against,  499,  500,  501,  525,  526;  men- 
tioned, 549,  684. 
Tynte,  Edward,  appointed  Governor, 

465;     commissioned,    484;    instruc- 
tions of,  485,  486;   death  of,  487. 
Upper  and  Lower  House,  questions 

'in  regard  to,  371,  469. 
Valour,  The  Ship,  brings  assistance 

from,  545. 
Vane,  Charles,  the  pirate,  588,  597, 

598. 
Vasquez,  Lucas  de  Ally  on,  discovery 

of  Carolina  by,  41,  42,  43,  44,  45. 
Vera  Cruz  mentioned,  206. 
Verrazzano,  Giovanni,  expedition,  43, 

45. 
Virginia  Queen,  The  Ship,  captured 

by  pirates,  575. 
Virginia,  mentioned,  2,  5,  9,  13,  54,  81, 

116,  229,  293,  296,  418,  479,  537,  545, 

549,  550,  551. 
Wadmalaw  Island,  Sandford   lands 

upon,  83. 
Wallingford,  Connecticut,  mentioned, 

3. 
Walker,  Sir  Hovenden,   mentioned, 

655,  663. 
Walter,  name  from  Barbadoes,  328  n. 
Wando  River,  mentioned,  77, 139, 146, 

162,  331,  416. 
Wappetaw  Church,  founders  of,  286. 
Waring,  Benjamin,  mentioned,  239  n. 
Waring,  Thomas,  member  of   Com- 
mons, signs  address  to  King,  571  n. 
Watkins,  John,  arrives  in  the  Loyal 

Jamaica,  and  gives  security,  261; 

an  assistant  judge  in  the  trial  of 

pirates,  610. 
Watson,  Hugh,  purchases  Proprietary 

shares  as  trustee,  676. 
Weems,  Mason  L.,  author,  mentioned, 

21. 
West,  Joseph,  appointed  Governor  of 

fleet  bound  for  Carolina,  115;  men- 


/ 


INDEX 


761 


•tioned,  120;  Deputy  for  Duke  of 
Albemarle,  124;  mentioned,  135; 
appointed  by  Sayle  his  successor  as 
Governor,  138;  assumes  govern- 
ment. Ibid.;  mentioned,  139;  his 
measures  in  time  of  distress,  147 ; 
Yeamans  claims  government  from, 
155,  156;  summons  Parliament,  in 
which  two  parties  appear,  156,  157 ; 
superseded  by  Yeamans,  158 ;  a 
deputy,  161;  mentioned,  170;  made 
a  Landgrave,  172;  Proprietors  ar- 
raign Yeamans's  conduct  to,  Ibid.  ; 
recommissioned  as  Governor,  172, 
175;  mentioned,  176, 182 ;  endeavors 
to  restrain  licentiousness,  184;  re- 
moved, 194;  again  commissioned, 
207;  his  instructions,  207,  208;  re- 
tires, 208;  mentioned,  210,  223,  224, 
275,  288,  292,  346,  374,  506,  689. 

West,  Samuel,  elected  Representative, 
125 ;  joins  in  application  for  a  min- 
ister, 132. 

Westoes  Indians,  mentioned,  125, 170, 
171,  177. 

Weston,  Flowden  C.  J.,  documents 
printed  by,  28. 

Whale  Branch,  mentioned,  44. 

Whaley ,  name  of,  from  Jamaica,  327  n. 

Wheat,  lands  yield  abundance  of, 
187. 

Whigs  of  England,  mentioned,  403, 
405,  438,  461. 

White  Meeting.  See  Congregation- 
alists. 

White  Point.    See  Oyster  Point. 

White  Servants,  brought  out  in  first 
colony,  121;  one  mentioned,  134; 
see  Scotch  exiles;  mentioned,  284; 
in  Barbadoes,  mentioned,  355 ;  stat- 
utory provisions  in  regard  to,  358, 
359 ;  numbers  of,  477. 

Wild  Cat,  reward  for  destruction  of, 
;352. 

William  HI,  proclaimed,  229 ;  priva- 
teers under  commission  of,  260,  262 ; 
mentioned,  268;  oath  of  allegiance 
to,  289 ;  mentioned,  365 ;  Sir  Nathan- 
iel Johnson's  refusal  to  take  oath  to, 
3G8  ;  mentioned,  403,  404. 

Williams,  James,  member  of  Assem- 
bly, 239  n. 


Williams,  John,  member  of  Commons, 
signs  address  to  King,  571  n. 

William  &  Kalph,  The  Ship,  "  A  bar- 
rel of  rice,"  on  bill  of  lading  of,  349. 

Williamson,  Eev.  Atkins,  arrival  in 
province,  184;  may  have  officiated 
in  Old  Town,  331,  332. 

Willoughby,  Lord,  mentioned,  212. 

Wilson,  Samuel,  account  of  Province, 
184,  185,  190. 

Wina  Indian,  mentioned,  214. 

Windmill  Point,  mentioned,  395. 

Witchcraft.    See  Nicholas  Trott. 

Wodrow,  Historian,  quoted,  196. 

Wommony,  Indian  Cacique,  88. 

Wood,  Eev.  Alexander,  commissioner 
of  free  school,  488,  511. 

Wood,  Henry,  owner  of  lot  in  Old 
Town,  164. 

Wooden  Houses,  the  building  of,  pro- 
hibited, 573. 

Woodward,  name  from  Barbadoes, 
327  n. 

Woodward,  Dr.  Henry,  accompanies 
Sandford,  visits  Indians,  83 ;  left  as 
hostage  with,  90, 91 ;  found  at  Nevis, 
122;  writes  to  Lord  Ashley  of  dis- 
covery of  delightful  country,  137 ; 
explores  Westoes  and  Cussatoes  for 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  177;  goes  on 
expedition  for  Sir  John  Yeamans 
to  Virginia,  346. 

Woodward,  John,  member  of  Com- 
mons, signs  address  to  the  King, 
571  n. 

Woodward,  Joseph,  his  connection 
with  the  introduction  of  rice,  348, 
349. 

Worley,  Richard,  the  pirate,  616,  621. 

Wragg,  Samuel,  member  of  Com- 
mons, 505  n. ;  member  of  Council, 
568 ;  captured  by  pirates,  589 ;  ne- 
gotiations for  release  of,  591,  592; 
member  of  Council,  642. 

Wragg,  William,  son  of  above,  capt- 
ured with  his  father,  590. 

Wright,  Bobert,  appointed  Chief  Jus- 
tice by  Proprietors,  677. 

Wright,  John,  murdered  by  Indians, 
534. 

Yamassee  Indians,  mentioned,  411; 
party  of,  in  Barnwell's  expedition 


762 


INDEX 


\| 


to  North  Carolina,  499;  rise  and 
attack  the  colonists,  533,  534,  535, 
546 ;  upon  defeat  retire  to  Spanish 
territory,  547  ;  lands  of,  allotted  to 
new  settlers,  555,  557. 

Tamassee  Lands,  disposition  of,  628, 
629,  639,  703. 

Yeamans,  Sir  Jolm,  mentioned,  8; 
sketch  of,  69 ;  commissioned  Gover- 
nor of  the  county  of  Clarendon,  75, 
76 ;  forms  "  of  adventures  for  Caro- 
lina," 79;  and  sails  for  Cape  Fear, 
80  ;  returns  to  Barhadoes,  81 ;  state- 
ments in  regard  to  his  beneficent 
rule  at  Cape  Fear  corrected,  92,  93 ; 
sails  with  colonists  from  Barbadoes, 
122 ;  abandons  them  at  Bermuda, 
123;  his  conduct  causes  discontent, 
124;  mentioned,  .131;  Halsted  in- 
structed to  consult  at  Barbadoes, 
139 ;  made  Landgrave,  141 ;  issues 
proclamation  at  Barbadoes  offering 
transportation  and  inducements  to 
parties  removing  to  Carolina,  143; 
suit  against,  in  Carolina,  150;  now 
in  province,  had  brought  with  him 
his  slaves  from  Barbadoes,  151; 
time  of  his  arrival  uncertain,  154, 
155;  chosen  Speaker,  but  claims 
right  to  be  Governor  because  a  Land- 
grave, 155 ;  returns  dissatisfied,  155, 
156;  again  asserts  his  right  to  be 
Governor,  157;  Council  refuse  to 
recognize  his  claim,  158 ;  but  already 
commissioned  by  Proprietors,  158, 
160;  instructions,  161;  proceeds  to 
lay  out  another  town,  162,  163; 
enters  upon  extensive  plans,  164; 
charged  with  exporting  provisions 
at  great  gain  to  Barbadoes,  165; 
letter  to,  from  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 
of  remonstrance,  165;  about  to  be 
removed,   171 ;  Proprietors  arraign 


his  conduct  to  West,  whom  they 
commission  as  Governor,  172;  re- 
tires to  Barbadoes,  where  he  dies, 
173 ;  other  charges  against.  Ibid. ; 
mentioned,  191,  208,  224,  316,  317; 
mentioned  as  coming  from  Barba- 
does, 327  n. ;  plantation  of,  345; 
sends  Dr.  Henry  Woodward  to  Vir- 
ginia, 346. 

Teamans,  Major  William,  negotia- 
tion with  Proprietors  for  proposed 
colony,  75. 

Yeamans  or  Yeamans  Hall,  traditions 
in  regard,  705. 

Yeamans  Harbor,  Sandford  so  named 
Broad  River,  87,  88. 

Year  Books,  City  of  Charleston,  31. 

Yeates,  The  Pirate,  escapes  with  Vane 
and  Captain  Rogers,  588 ;  deserts 
Vane,  597;  puts  into  North  Edesto 
and  surrenders,  598. 

Yellovr  Fever,  first  appearance  in 
Carolina,  great  mortality  by,  308, 
309,  310,  313 ;  second  appearance, 
396. 

Yester,  one  of  the  names  of  Lord  Car- 
dross's  Company,  195. 

Yonge,  Francis,  member  of  Council, 
567,  568  ;  assistant  judge  in  trial  of 
pirates,  575  ;  sent  by  Governor  and 
Council  to  explain  their  conduct  and 
to  lay  before  Proprietors  charges 
against  Trott,  and  to  confer  upon 
sundry  matters,  633 ;  arrives  in  Lon- 
don, 635 ;  finds  difiiculty  in  obtaining 
a  hearing,  636  ;  presents  memorial, 
636,  637  ;  is  rebuffed  by  Proprietors 
and  sent  back  with  sealed  package, 
640 ;  member  of  new  Council,  642  ; 
quotation  from,  643 ;  mentioned, 
647. 

York,  Duke  of,  member  of  the  Royal 
African  Company,  357,  358. 


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